


Bones

by Arithese



Category: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles - All Media Types
Genre: Alcohol, Child Abuse, Drug Abuse, Gen, Hospital
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-25
Updated: 2018-08-18
Packaged: 2019-07-19 00:13:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 23,006
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16129586
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Arithese/pseuds/Arithese
Summary: Human AU. They didn't think it was a big deal when Mikey had to stay home instead of going with them on a trip, but they were wrong. When they get back Mikey changed, and they had no idea what happened or how to help their quickly deteriorating brother. But one thing was clear, something bad happened when they were gone.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Okay so this idea has been in my head for some time now, and I decided to finally write it. And just like my last human AU, this will tackle some serious topics. So be warned. Also, some characters might seem OOC at the beginning of the chapter. But I promise, it's all going to make sense.
> 
> So I also wanted to explain the title a bit. I'm obsessed with Eurovision, I love the show, especially the songs that are released. So my favs this year were Belgium, Bulgaria and Denmark. And since I almost always take story titles from songs I like, I decided to take this title from my favourites. (If you follow me, I just published a story called A Matter Of Time, which is the title for the Belgium entry). So this one is the Bulgarian entry "Bones". And I choose this (because I still want the title to fit the story) because the song is about loving each other, and standing together despite physical obstacles for example. One of the singers explained it as follows:
> 
> "We are all a strong, strong family if we are together. We all need to love each other, we all need to help each other and to give a hand – because love is love." And this fits so well with this story I feel like. But you'll see it in later chapters! :D For now, ignore my ramblings about Eurovision and I hope you enjoy the first chapter!

"He's getting worse" Was the first thing Leo says the moment he closed the door. I sigh, hanging my head and rubbing the bridge of my nose.

"What did dad say?" I ask, glancing to my right to see Raph, unsurprisingly very pissed but also concerned.

"He was caught with weed" Leo tells me, sitting down on his office chair, turning it around so he was facing us. He sighs as well, cracking his back and tangling a hand through his hair. Stress was obvious on his face, and he seemed as distraught as when he answered the door.

We hadn't worried much, Mikey had said he was studying with some friends, for once that is. But when a colleague of dad pushed him inside we instantly knew he wasn't with the good kind of friends, and certainly not studying.

"Will the police press charges?" I ask softly but Leo shakes his head.

"Mikey's lucky a friend of dad caught him, but if this keeps going for too long.. he will take action himself if dad doesn't do it" Leo says with a serious tone and Raph grumbles.

"Do what?! Send ta kid to rehab?"

"It's a possibility" I mumble and Raph glares at me. I whip my head around, glaring right back. "You know it's a valid consideration Raph, this is the third time this week he's been high!" I hiss, voice rising ever so slightly.

"He's been rebelling ever since we got back from our trip two weeks ago" Leo mumbles, crossing his arms.

"Ya think something happened?" Raph asks, but we both knew the answer. So Leo shrugging wasn't really surprising. After all, we had asked ourselves this question many many times in the past two weeks. Ever since we came back, Mikey hasn't been himself, hasn't acted like… like Mikey.

He was angry, irritable, rebellious. But most importantly, he was doing bad stuff. He was going out with weird kids from school, from the streets even. Go to their houses and get drunk and stoned. We only caught on after Leo had to pick him up in the middle of the night because he had to leave the house but was too drunk to do so.

And instead of calling dad, he called Leo. Raph had called it cowardly, trying to find a way around punishment, but of course dad had woken up, smelled the alcohol.

"Maybe he's just angry we left him home?"

"Bonehead would be willing to get drunk just cause he's angry at us?" Raph intercepts and I look at him, but neither he or Leo, nor me is sure of the answer. Whatever the cause, Mikey was in a messed up place and neither of us knew how to help him.

TMNT

3 weeks ago

"Can you just not go?" Mikey whines, latching onto my arm. I snort, untangling his limb.

"Sorry squirt, we earned our holiday, unlike someone here" I retort and Mikey takes a step backwards, glaring at me.

"Well you three didn't have to earn it, unlike me" Mikey shoots right back at me and I roll my eyes. "And you know I suck at math, I can't help my marks"

"Sorry kid, but that was the deal, you get a sufficient mark and you get to go with us" I shake my head, picking up my suitcase again. "You got an insufficient, so too bad" I continue with a smirk, ruffling his hair. He slaps my hand away angrily and I turn around, heading outside to get the suitcase in the car.

Leo and Don were already waiting near the car, their suitcases long in the car and ready to go. Of course I would be the last one to get ready, I mean I would've been faster if Mikey hadn't been bugging me for the last 2 hours not to go. But at least Don was always worried and had given us plenty of time to spare.

"D you don't even like skiing" Mikey continues whining and Don smiled down fondly at his little brother.

"Never said I didn't Mikey, you really need to find a better excuse" Don replies and I smirk again, throwing my suitcase in the back of the car.

"Mikey, stop stalling. I know you're disappointed dad didn't allow you to come but you should've studied harder" Leo says with a slightly frown, but I could see he was also slightly guilty about leaving Mikey behind for a full 10 days. It was a trip school organised, a ski holiday during school days.

But it was expensive, and in response to Mikey's ever dropping marks, he said Mikey could only go if he were to finally get a sufficient grade on the math test. Which he didn't obviously.

"I just don't want you to go" Mikey whispers softly, bowing his head.

"We'll be back before ya know it squirt" I smirk, ruffling his hair again and pulling him in a headlock. Mikey didn't seem to appreciate it for once, struggling out of the hold and looking away from me. "C'mon little brother, that's not a good farewell" I say, slightly less harsh. He looks at me and for a second I'm shocked.

Real fear was showing in his eyes, real sadness. He really didn't want us to leave.

"It'll be alright Mikey, we'll be back in 10 days, and you can still wave us goodbye at school" Don helps me out, wrapping an arm around Mikey's shoulder and dragging him over to the car. Mikey doesn't struggle anymore, willingly climbing in the middle seat of the car as Don and I squish him from either side.

Leo was, as always sitting in the front seat, and dad was driving.

Mikey leaned into Don's embrace, placing his head on his shoulder and closing his eyes. I frown slightly, and Don seemed to be just as surprised by the look he was giving me. Mikey was acting odd, even for his doing.

It took us 10 minutes till we arrived at the school, and the bus was of course, already present. It took us another 5 to load the luggage and to see what spot we had been given. Casey had of course saved me a spot next to him in the back while Leo and Don had a saved spot with Karai and April respectively.

After dropping off our hand luggage we walked outside again, where dad and Mikey were still standing.

"Don't burn down the house squirt" I snicker, pulling him in a quick hug. He gratefully accepts it, seemingly clinging to me for a few seconds before letting me go. He did the same with Don and Leo, before we three, almost reluctantly I might add, got onto the bus. But the moment we drove away, that was all forgotten.

Not knowing how much Mikey would change over the next 10 days.

TMNT

"Leo?" A soft voice enters my room. I hum slightly, rubbing my eyes and looking at the door, which was now opened just slightly. A tiny bit of light was entering the room, but it was enough for me to recognise my youngest brother.

"Mikey?" I ask, and Mikey pushes the door open a bit further.

"Can I sleep with you?" He whispers, swallowing heavily. I was almost tempted to say no, the officer bringing him in just hours ago still fresh on my mind, but I quickly decided against it.

"Always" I tell him, lifting my blanket. He smiled slightly, closing the door and shuffling over to the bed. He instantly crawls against me, and I throw the blanket over his body as well. "You're shivering" I frown, and another tremor runs through his body, but he shakes his head.

"I'm not cold" He announces softly. "I-.. I just have the symptoms of being cold" I snort at the sentence, rolling my eyes.

"You're high Mikey" I say, a bit of blame creeping into my voice. Of course I wasn't happy with him right now, of course I didn't approve of him getting high in the first place. Not because it was harmful, but because it could be harmful, and it was illegal here in New York.

Getting caught could've gotten him into jail, going outside while high was dangerous, he could've gotten himself hurt, or worse, killed.

"Leo" He says, eyes widening in panic. "I need to tell you something"

"What is it?" I ask, suddenly alarmed. But Mikey tenses suddenly, blinking a couple of times before looking at me again.

".. Nothing… it's nothing" He mumbles and I frown, reaching out for his hands.

"Mikey" I urge him. "You can tell me what bothering you.. you can tell me anything" I whisper to him but he shakes his head again tiredly, leaning a bit more heavily on the pillow and closing his eyes.

"I was scared… when you left" He mumbles after a while, but he seems too out of it to properly respond again. He must've been really sleepy after all, being high kind of had that effect according to the internet… and Casey's and Raph's previous attempt that one time. But unlike Mikey, ironically enough, they were responsible.

They did it at Casey's home, stayed home, had plenty of food and were careful.

And I know what Mikey was talking about, I was scared, even if he didn't specify it, when you left. I knew what he was talking about. When we left him for 10 days.

Something definitely happened in those 10 days.

TMNT

I was startled awake when something warm spread across the mattress. I let out a yelp, scrambling up to find the cause. In an instant Mikey is up as well, looking at me with wide eyes. He whimpers, scrambling backwards. I reach for the light, turning it on and illuminating the room.

Then my gaze falls on the dark spot on my bed, and the dark spot on his pants.

"I'm sorry" Mikey whimpers, letting out a sob. He wet himself.

"Mikey" I try to get his attention but he whimpers, shaking his head. "Mikey it's okay" I urge, sliding off the bed and walking around to get to him. He stiffens when I put my hands on either shoulder, but he reluctantly looks at me.

"It's embarrassing" He mutters, tears burning in his eyes. I shake my head with a slight smile.

"It's not Mikey, it can happen" He looks down at the statement and I frown. "Did it happen before?" He stays silent for a moment, not daring to look at me before he slowly drags his gaze to the spot on the bed.

"I ruined your bed" He mumbles, wiping the tear away that was slowly trailing down his cheek. I chuckle slightly despite the situation, gently forcing Mikey to look at me again. I brush away the other tears with my thumb.

"You didn't otouto, you know that" I tell him gently, reaching for his hand. "We can sleep in your bed for tonight, and ask dad to clean it tomorrow" At the mention of dad Mikey stiffens suddenly and he starts shaking his head. Did something happen between him and Mikey? I frown.

"Don't tell dad" He whimpers, and despite asking why, I nod slowly.

"Okay, I will do it tomorrow. I have the first 2 periods off" I assure him, and Mikey nods slowly, slumping slightly. "Come on, you need a change in clothes" I say, hauling him off softly. I could tell the effects of the drugs weren't completely gone yet, but he seemed lucid enough right now.

But his reaction to the mention of dad still worried me. What could've happened between those two? Both weren't the ones to get into a fight. I shake off the thought for now, I would have to talk with Raph and Don tomorrow, after school probably. But for now, getting Mikey towards the showers was the priority.

After Mikey was done, I quickly jumped under the shower as well, putting on another pair of pyjamas before crawling into Mikey's bed instead.

Mikey was laying on his side, face towards me but eyes already closed. I frown, staring at Mikey while he slept. Of course we had all wet our beds when we were younger, multiple times, even if Raph would deny it every time. We hadn't in a long time, come to think of it, Mikey had been the last one to stop.

Still, something must've happened for him to suddenly lose his ability to control his bladder like that. And somehow he didn't want dad to know.

TMNT

"I need to talk to you guys" I frown as I saw Raph and Don walk through the hallway, they both look at me with a surprised face. "It's about Mikey" I clarify, but they still seem confused, looking at each other before turning back to me again.

"Let's find somewhere quiet then" Don opts and I smile slightly, nodding. It was lunch time either way, so we had plenty of time talk about what happened last night. Downside however was that it was lunchtime, and everyone would be walking through the school, still, I knew a few spots.

I led my two little brothers to a corner somewhere on the north side of the school, a place not many people knew about. So it was perfect for talking.

"What did you want ta talk about?" Raph asks, sitting down on one of the chairs that was still standing there.

"Mikey came to me last night, asked me if he could sleep in my bed" I start, leaning against the wall and crossing my arms. "I don't know if it was because he was still high, but he wanted to tell me something and he seemed pretty freaked about it"

"What did he say?" Don asks, but I shake my head.

"That's just it, it was like he realised he couldn't say anything and said it was nothing" I tell him. "He also told me he was scared when we left, and I don't think he was exaggerating" I frown slightly, and Raph seemed to have a similar reaction, nose scrunching up slightly. It was an old habit he had when he was uncertain about something.

Like the situation right now. Where none of us knew how to help Mikey.

"Scared of what?" Don asks but I shrug, shaking my head.

"I don't know, I asked dad this morning but he seemed just as lost, thought maybe Mikey was just acting out to spite him"

"Because he wasn't allowed with us on the trip" Raph opts and I shrug again, because I really, really didn't know the answer for once. And it was driving me crazy, it was driving all of us mad. We were all protective of each other, especially of our younger brothers. And Mikey had three big brothers that looked after him.

So not being able to help Mikey was frustrating for all of us. Not to mention that Mikey never got into trouble, if anyone would not act out or rebel it would be Mikey. If anyone would stay away from drugs the longest, it would be Mikey. I mean, sure Raph beat him to it, but no one had ever considered Mikey abusing drugs and alcohol.

"Something tells me that's not everything" Don suddenly speaks up, and no matter how badly I wanted to deny that, I shook my head.

"He wet the bed last night" I tell them. I didn't really know what reaction to expect. It was really fifty-fifty on the reaction, either laughter and ridicule, or concern. I was actually relieved when a look of concern and confusion crossed both my little brother's faces.

"He… wet the bed?" Raph asks, but for once, no judgement was behind his voice. He was just thoroughly confused. "He hasn't wet his bed since we were 7" Raph exclaims, voice rising a bit.

"I know" I state with a glare, trying to calm him down a bit. Raph blinks a couple of times, but seems to understand the message. Calm down.

"I once read how wetting the bed could be caused by extreme stress or… other psychological issues" Don mumbles, frowning slightly.

"That doesn't sound too optimistic" Raph mutters, and I shake my head absently. "So what are we gonna do about it?"

How could we help our youngest brother?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So there's the first chapter, next chapter will hopefully be out soon and it will answer some important things in the story! So stay tuned and I'd love to hear your ideas so far :)
> 
> The "I just have the symptoms of being cold" part was actually what I was saying when I got high for the first time :))))) It hit me a littl' too hard and I just started shaking as if I was cold. To this day, my friends still mock me for it xD


	2. Chapter 2

Don's POV

"What are you doing?" I ask, frowning slightly when I walk into the room. Photo albums were scattered all around the living room, and in the midst of all the photos was Mikey, sitting cross-legged. He doesn't look at me, glancing around the room instead as if he was taking in every photo again.

"How different do you think our lives would've been if mom hadn't died?" Mikey mutters, and I frown, slowly walking over to him. I glance at the pictures as well, sitting down in front of him and taking one of the books he had placed besides him.

"Very different" I respond, fingers ghosting over one of the pictures. It was one of mom and dad together. Mom's belly was swollen quite badly, probably in the last month of her pregnancy, and dad was standing in front of her, a proud look on his face.

I look up slowly, watching as Mikey was almost fixated on the pictures in front of him. It was the album that had photographed our birth. One page was mom laying in the hospital with dad kissing her. The date was two days before our birth, the last photo we had of mom, the last picture of an affectionate dad.

The next picture was us in the hospital, at least, Leo, Raph and me laying in beds next to each other.

Mikey was in the next picture, sleeping soundly in an incubator.

"Do you think mom would've hated me?" Mikey whispers, and I look at him with horror in my eyes, a cold feeling spread through my body.

"N-No.. no of course not Mikey" I almost cry out. "Mom would've loved you, she wouldn't be mad"

"But I still killed her" He mumbles and I reel back slightly. I thought he was talking about his behaviour right now, that mom would be disappointed... I never stopped to think he would be worried mom would hate him because she died while delivering us.. and him being the youngest..

"Mikey… from what grandma and dad told us, mom was the sweetest person in the world. She cared about us, and refused to get an abortion even though she knew the risks" I tried to convince him, but he didn't seem convinced at the moment.

"But I was the one who didn't want to come out" He mumbles but I shake my head.

"There was nothing you could've done Mikey, you were a baby. If I would've been last to get born the same could've happened" I try, and Mikey shakes his head softly, tears lingering in his eyes. "Why the sudden interest?" I ask. We hadn't looked at these albums in years, our mom had always been a weird subject.

We hadn't known her, ever. Sure, we still missed having a mom, but we hadn't known mom to miss her, if that made sense. And it wasn't like dad often talked about her, he didn't really talk about her in the first place, or about his life really. But that was just who he was, but not how he had always been apparently.

Our grandma on our mother's side, who passed away a couple of years ago, told us how he changed after mom's death. Can't blame him really, he lost his wife so close after cutting ties with his brother, and had to look after four babies at the time. Didn't help that Mikey was also deprived of a healthy amount of oxygen in the belly.

One of the reasons he had to go into an incubator the first 3 days.

"I don't know" He answers, shrugging slightly.

"Did something happen with dad while we were gone?" I ask, and much to my surprise, he stiffens in fear. So something did happen with dad when we were on that trip.

"No… nothing happened" He mutters after a second of hesitation, but I don't believe it for one bit.

Something happened with him and dad, and I was going to find out what.

TMNT

1st day of the trip

"Where have you been?" Dad asked harshly as I close the door, I cringe, slowly turning around. "I told you he was an disobedient little bastard" He continues and I frown, slowly walking over to the kitchen table where dad was sitting with another man.

"Studying at the library" I mumble and dad looks up with a sceptic look, taking another sip of his beer.

"You missed dinner for studying?" He asks with a frown and I nod softly. "You would never miss dinner for studying, unless-" He stops himself, a small smile tugging on his lips and he stands up, stalking over to him. I gulp, taking a hesitant step backwards when he towered over me.

"Unless you were avoiding me now your brothers are gone" He states and I swallow harshly, shaking my head.

"No I was studying, I swear" I try but dad doesn't seem convinced and he looks back at his friend with a menacing grin.

"You know why this trip is the perfect opportunity?" He asks and now I am the one frowning, shaking my head hesitantly. I take another hesitant step, but dad reaches out, grabbing my shirt and pulling me closer. "No brothers to intervene" He hisses in my face, throwing me away and into the wall.

I groan in pain, sliding down the wall until I was fully in the floor, ears ringing. I close my eyes for a moment, riding out the pain. I was used to this, this is nothing. I tried to tell myself, tried to make it hurt less. But the harsh reality was still right there in front of me, the reason I didn't want my brothers to go.

Without them, dad didn't have to worry about them finding out about my beatings.

"Where do ya hit 'im?" The stranger on our table asks nonchalantly, taking another sip.

"Places that clothes cover up, only bruises though" Because my brothers couldn't know.

"I used to burn mine" The man shrugs and I whimper, struggling out of the hold. But dad doesn't let go, holding me only tighter before letting me go.

I fall to the ground and he kicks me in the stomach. I wheesh, curling up tight.

"You better be home tomorrow, and don't think I forgot about your punishment for your math test" He grumbles, pushing me away with his foot. "Now get out of my sight" He says, turning back to the table.

"Tomorrow? Did ya forget we had dinner tomorrow with the boys?" The man asks and dad chuckles.

"Not at all, but that's why I want him home. He could serve us drinks, cook for us, and the others probably have more.. creative ways to punish him" The other man laughs along with dad.

"You're cruel" He laughs. I squeeze my eyes shut, willing myself to stand up and get the hell out of here, just crash onto my bed and not wake up for days.

"He deserves it, good for nothing killing bastard" Dad mumbles and I wince at the sentence. I scramble upwards, putting a hand on the wall and walking towards the stairs.

TMNT

"So you're sure he's here?" Casey asks, looking around as always. I roll my eyes, shoving him to the side slightly.

"I'm sure, but if you'd rather talk to the girls.. knock yourself out" I mutter, walking over to the living room, and letting Casey alone with the girls that were exiting the house.

"Raph wait!" Casey barks out a laugh behind me, quickly catching up to me. "I'm sorry, I just.. we go to parties all the time, still not sure why we ain't going to this one, but what's so special about Mike?" He mutters the second sentence under his breath, but I still catch it. I roll my eyes.

"It's different cause Mikey doesn't know his fucking boundaries. Something happened when we were away.. he's in a fucked up state right now"

"Which means?" Casey presses, grabbing a drink while he's at it. I don't even react to the drink, me and Case have been drunk many times before. Not usually on parties, mostly at his home though, but we've drank our fair share of alcohol at parties.

"Party, no adults, alcohol-" I stop, gesturing to the red cup in his hands. "..and knowing our school, enough drugs for him to try"

"Shit man, ya brother's really a junky?" Casey says and I glare at his sentence, shaking my head before turning around.

"He's not a fucking junky, Case. But we gotta find him before he does something stupid" I growl back, heading into the kitchen instead. But just like the hallway and the living room, Mikey was nowhere in sight. I knew he was here though. Mikey had slipped out of the house with a stupid excuse.

Studying he had said. He was lucky dad was away for 2 days on a business trip, but Leo, Don and I had immediately agreed that we would stop Mikey from making a big mistake. Two parties were going on right now, so Don and Leo went to the other one while Casey and I went to this one.

But I had already spotted Jason amongst Mikey's usual gang of friends, so I was pretty confident Mikey would be here as well.

"I'm sorry Raph. Look, I know yer worried. I'm just a little confused why Mikey of all people would act out"

"So are we Casey, trust me" I mutter back, turning around. Casey lifts the cup again, emptying it in one go. "Something happened with him and dad.." I trail off, checking the garden real quick but only two people were outside right now, and it seemed like the two were getting along just fine.

I grimace, shutting the door again.

"Ya think your dad like… hit him?" Case asks softly, and I whirl around in horror. But not because of the suggestion, not because he had the nerve to question dad like that… but because I couldn't feel those things… I couldn't feel horrified or mad at him for suggesting it to me.

Fuck! Why did I really consider this as an option?

"He may be gone a lot Case, but he would never" I mutter, but I was doubtful. I never thought Mikey would turn to drugs, or act out worse than I would… and here we are. And dad… he was already neglecting us basically. He never attended my basketball games, never attended our school meetings.

He never loved us like other parents would.

Could he really have hit Mikey?

"Let's just check upstairs" I mutter eventually, not waiting for a response before walking up the stairs. The party was mostly downstairs, so the noise had died down significantly once we reached the first floor. I look around, there was another set of stairs. "You check this floor, I'll take the next. Sound fair?" I ask, turning around to face Casey.

He looks at the stairs as well, nodding silently and making his way to the first door. I follow his lead, walking up the second pair of stairs. The attic was smaller, no straight walls because of the pitched roof. But there were still two rooms to be seen, excluding the bathroom.

Just for the sake of being thorough, I checked the bathroom as well, but other than a horrifying smell, nothing was there. The first bedroom didn't hold anyone. I sigh, quickly checking my mobile. Leo had texted me a minute ago.

'We checked the house, Mikey's not here' It simply read, before I got another one. 'Heading over there right now'.

I curse under my breath, Mikey better be here, or we'd have to call dad. And after what Casey had suggested… I really didn't want to before we got Mikey's side of the story. So I walked around the stairs, to the last door. I heard sounds coming from the other side of the room, so people were definitely in there.

What I saw was something I definitely didn't expect.

My first instinct was to attack, protect my little brother. Mikey was laying on the bed, on his back with someone else on top of him. But I was frozen, frozen as Mikey smiled, grabbing a handful of the shirt and pulling the boy closer to him and locking their lips again. There was another girl in the room.

But she wasn't really paying attention to what was happening. Instead she was sitting near the open window, playing with her phone and sometimes bringing a joint to her lips, as if this was a normal occurrence.

".. Mikey?" I ask shakily, but my voice still resonated through the room. Immediately the boy on top of Mikey scrambled back, who I distinctly remembered as a classmate of his, Woody I believe. Mikey did the same, scrambling upwards and staring at me with wide eyes. The girl, however, didn't seem fazed, merely looking up for a moment.

"Is this my que to leave?" She asks, her voice low and husky.

"No Shini, he's.. my brother" Mikey says hurriedly, still looking at me with wide eyes. The scent of weed and alcohol was strong in the room, but Mikey, and the others, still seemed lucid enough to know what was going on.

"A very confused one" I growl out. "Are you high?!" I exclaim, and Mikey redirects his gaze, not daring to look at me. I sigh in frustration, pinching the bridge of my nose.

"Are you mad?" Mikey whispers softly, and Woody places a comforting hand on Mikey's shoulder. I shake my head, looking at him.

"I'm not mad little bro, just worried" I mutter, stalking over to him. He flinches slightly, but I still sit next to him on the bed, reaching out for his hand. "I just want you safe, I don't care ab-"

"We.. I was just experimenting.. I don't know if I'm.. y'know.." He stops himself, but I smile slightly.

"Again, I couldn't care less Mike. You know Mona is gay, and you know none of us have any problems with that" I tell him, and despite the situation, but not entirely unexpected, Mikey starts snickering. I roll my eyes, knowing the reason behind his joy. Mona had been in the closet still two years ago.

And she knew I was having a crush on her, so she asked me out. To prove to her parents she was still straight or some shit like that. But the moment our relationship.. progressed, I started to notice how reluctant she was. And eventually, figured out she liked girls instead of boys.

The guys had teased me at first, about how I turned her gay, of course not meaning it, and at first our friendship had been a bit awkward, but we overcame that, and became really good friends.

"Please don't tell dad" He whispers, leaning forwards to place his forehead against my shoulder.

"I won't buddy" I whisper, wrapping an arm around him and drawing him closer. "But we have to go home now" I continue and he nods heavily against me.

"That's fair I guess" He mutters, a chill wracking through his body. "See you guys Monday?" He continues, taking his face from my shoulder and looking at Shini and Woody in the room.

"Bye man" Woody acknowledges, and Shini just nods. I help him up, waving at the two remaining friends before helping him out of the room. He seemed pretty much able to walk himself. For which I was grateful as I watched him walk down the stairs. Something I had rather not done for him.

'Got him, go have fun' I quickly text to Casey, hoping he would take the hint, that it was time for family bonding right now. Besides, he was probably already back in the living room and partying.

I continued to follow Mikey, who seemed to understand we were headed outside the house.

"Leo's picking us up?" He asks, turning back. I nod, catching up to him and sitting down, dragging him with me until we were sitting down on the sidewalk. "I'm sorry" Mikey mutters again, but I immediately shake my head, wrapping my arm around his form again. He happily leans against me.

"Don't be sorry little bro.. I just wish you'd tell us what was going on in that thick skull of yours" I rumble, nudging him slightly. He doesn't react however, simply staying quiet. "Did dad do something?" Immediately he tenses, which only proved that Don was right when he mentioned his conversation yesterday.

Did dad really hurt Mikey?

TMNT

Second day of the trip.

"More beer" Dad grumbled, and I immediately hurried over to the fridge, taking out a bottle and rushing back to the table. "Mostly useless but at least he can get me a beer" Dad continued, directing his gaze to the men around the table once I gave him the bottle. He took of the lid, immediately taking a sip.

The other men snickered at the remark, sending me glares or not even paying attention to me in the first place.

"Boy, get me some food" Another man rumbled, and I nod silently, hurrying back to the kitchen. My muscles were still rigid, expecting something any moment. Dad had said I was still due for a punishment for the math test. And I knew he was trying to make me more afraid, all to play with my mind.

And it was definitely working.

My heart was racing as I got to the kitchen again, shortly debating what to get one of the men but I quickly grabbed something, making my way back to the table again.

"So have you decided on his punishment yet?" One man grumbled, and I was ready to leave the room quietly but he shot out his arm, latching onto my wrist. I yelp, feeling a twinge of pain run up my arm but I didn't dare to pull away. This was unfamiliar ground, dad had never invited friends over.

Because I was never alone with dad for a whole day. Either Don, Leo or Raph would be home.

"Suggestions are welcome" Dad muttered, taking another sip of his beer, his fifth one of the evening. Add that to the shots they had already taken and the joints they had smoked... it was safe to say they weren't in their right mind anymore.

"I could think of one" Another men suggested. I shudder at his gaze, whimpering.

"Please dad" I feel myself whimper, but that only seemed to please dad, a grin spreading on his face. Within seconds I rip myself free from the man's grip, but before I could even exit the room one of his friends bolted out of his chair, grabbing my by the shirt and pulling me back.

"NO!" I cry out but the grip is strong, and the man grabs my arms to root me in place.

"Don't bother, no one can hear you in this house" He says, and I shudder heavily.

"I will tell them" I whimper, trying to twist my way out but my body wasn't cooperating anymore.

"We both know you won't boy, I will hurt your brothers if you don't. And you know you deserve everything I give you" Dad stresses the last sentence, and I shudder again. He would, he would turn on them, turn on my older brothers. I couldn't let them, I couldn't let them be punished for my mistakes.

Dad hated me because of me… for good reason.

I killed mom, the love of his life, I burdened him with having to raise four babies on his own.

I could feel a hand lifting up my shirt, and the man stopped. "No scars" He remarks, and dad grunts.

"His brothers" He explains, slurring slightly. His brothers, they couldn't know… but now.. they couldn't know, because they were away.

And for the first time in my life, I was truly afraid that dad would hurt me, even if it meant allowing his friends to do so. For the first time, I was afraid that he would truly beat me. He had hit me before, one hit or two, enough to leave a bruise, or two. But never a full on beating…. until now.

And then the first hit came.

…

I don't even know how long it had been, but I was just so glad he had stopped and dad had allowed me to go upstairs, leave…. but not before hearing the last sentence.

"He won't be acting out anytime soon, Saki" The man snickers

I walk upstairs, into my tiny room and crashing on the bed before curling up. Saki, dad. I squeeze my eyes shut, wrapping my arm tightly around my throbbing body. And even if he didn't hit me, he consciously allowed it. What started out as neglect, quickly turned into abuse.

And I never told anyone.

Dad, father.. Oroku Saki.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So figuring I'm already going to hell for writing this story, and putting Mikey yet again through something horrible and abusing him once again, I decided to just write out another headcanon of mine. I don't even know why I never wrote it, probably because to me it's not worth mentioning in other stories. But in my opinion Mikey is Bi, or even pansexual. The others are straight in my opinion, but they fully support whomever Mikey likes, regardless of gender or something.
> 
> Also, their dad is Oroku Saki! :D Told ya that them being OOC would make sense eventually.


	3. Chapter 3

"Finally decided ta show up?" Raph asks the moment I walk into the room, and I roll my eyes at his impatient behaviour.

"Some of us go to class" I retort, but instead of continuing, I walk over to the table where Don and Raph were already sitting on, taking a seat as well. Me and Raph in front of each other and Don was sitting at the end of the table. His laptop was standing in front of him, pushed far away from him so all three of us could see it.

"What did you find?" I ask instead, looking at the screen. I look around for a second, but the room was completely sealed, no windows that would allow anyone to sneak up on us. Someone like dad or Mikey. And while dad coming to the library was unlikely, Mikey coming here wasn't.

And we didn't want him figuring out what we knew just yet.

"I found a couple of websites, but the symptoms are pretty much always the same" Don says, sighing in frustration.

"Should we just go past every one of them? See if they match and then-" I stop myself after the sentence, an uneasy feeling spreading through my body.

"And then what? What the fuck are we going to do if dad really hit Mikey? We'd be taken away.. separated"

"I don't know Raph!" I hiss, causing him to shut his mouth immediately. "I don't want us to get separated… but if dad is really hurting Mikey, I'd rather for him to be safe" I tell him, glaring slightly so Raph would understand to drop it. Unlike any other day, I wasn't feeling up to our normal fights.

Not like I was ever looking forward to them, but right now I was just too mentally exhausted and confused. Just the thought of dad hurting our little brother was horrifying.

"So withdrawal?" Don frowns, shaking his head. "Not so much I'd say. Change in behaviour?"

"Definitely" Raph mutters and Don nods, writing both symptoms down but making sure to put a cross through the first one, to show Mikey wasn't having that particular symptom. So we went through 5 different websites, comparing every new symptom to Mikey's behaviour, both before the trip, and afterwards.

Most of the symptoms, as Don already said, were pretty much the same, but none us were even suggesting that we'd stop, or just give up. We all wanted to be as thorough as possible. So we continued browsing through the internet until no more symptom could be added to the list.

Change in behaviour

Anxiety

Absences from school

Doesn't want to go home. (Even if he was being subtle about it)

Rebellious behaviour.

Unexplained headaches.

But the most disturbing part wasn't the ever growing list, every symptom we could add after the unexplained headaches, which were a lot. No, that wasn't the most disturbing part. The most disturbing thing was the other list, a website listing another category that would either confirm or deny our theory. Parental behaviour.

Show little concern for the child

Blames child for problems at school

Demands an inappropriate level of physical or academic performance

That one wasn't as straightforward as the others, it wasn't like dad put ridiculous expectations on Mikey. He expected him to do as well as Don and I did in school. But somehow, just like Raph, Mikey didn't seem to be understanding school and its concepts as well as we did.

Raph was another story, he excelled at football, so getting a scholarship was basically a guarantee. Dad didn't put pressure on Raph because of that, he had a scholarship in his pocket no matter what. At least, if his grades stayed well enough for him to pass, and he continued showing his talents.

Mikey, however, didn't have that safety-net. He had to, just like Don and me, rely fully on getting good grades.

But the behaviour symptoms wasn't the end of the list. It continued with the next logical thing, risk factors. And it only supported our previous suspicions.

History of neglect. According to dad, his dad had always paid more attention to his brother before the death of his father. He never got the attention he wanted from his 'idiotic' brother as dad had put it.

Family crisis or stress. Mom dying when giving birth. Single parenting. Which was definitely a yes.

Social or extended family isolation. He had, after the family sided with our Uncle instead of dad, not seen his family in years. Only our grandma had visited sometimes before her death, but just for us. She hadn't spoken much to dad as well, so he was, pretty much, isolated from family.

And all of these contributed to our theory.

Dad was abusing Mikey.

TMNT

2 weeks ago

"Hey guys" I cheer, trying to put as much happiness behind my call as I could.

"Otouto!" Leo grins, shoving Don to the side so he could sit on the couch as well. Don cries out with a smile, pushing his oldest brother back, but Leo wouldn't budge.

"Everything okay there?" I ask, grinning as Raph approached as well, and ignoring the stab of pain in my heart. The fact that I was still here in our home, while they were on a skiing trip with school. Leo frowns slightly.

"Are you okay?" He stresses, and I feel a jolt of fear spread through me. I grin, the smile seemingly splitting open my cheeks. The smile felt fake.

"I'm cool dudes" I cheer, leaning forwards. "But how is the snow?" I divert the attention to them. Raph grins now.

"It's awesome, Leo fell flat on his face on the first slope"

"Twice" Don adds. I snort, looking at Leo with cruel pleasure. A red colour spread across his face and he looked away, muttering something under his breath.

"Black belt but fashion disaster on the pistes?" I snicker, and both Raph and Don nod eagerly while Leo shakes his head.

"I wasn't that bad" He says, and Raph snorts.

"You raced into a class of children" He arguments. "Who were, by the way, doing a far better job than you fearless" I grin, watching them interact with each other. It was weird seeing them on this side of the screen, lonely even.

"Well they've been training for longer than I have" Leo tries to defend his honour, but even he knew that it was futile, Don and Raph would never let this go, and I should probably start expecting videos or photos of some sorts in the near future, preferably of Leo falling flat on his face.

"Whateva fearless, ya just can't admit you're bad at something" Raph snickers, throwing a piece of paper at Leo's head. "So how's it going over there?"

"It's quiet" I shrug, hoping they'd take my lack of enthusiasm as a result of me not being able to go on an awesome skiing trip.

"Don't worry squirt, we'll be back before you know it" Raph responds, looking down when his phone beeped. "Shit, we gotta go. Case says they already started eating dinner downstairs. Catchya later" Raph announces, waving at me.

"Bye Mikey"

"Later" Don waves as well, standing up and following Raph. Leo smiles one last time before he disconnects the call.

"Help me" I whisper, words that had been stuck in my throat for the whole conversation, my whole life. So why couldn't I say it? Just 2 words.

But I couldn't afford to be selfish.

TMNT

"Hello, you're speaking with Denise, childhelp" A warm voice entered the room, I glance at my two younger brothers, but they nod at the same time.

"Hello Denise" I answer.

"With whom am I speaking?" She asks, and I swallow slightly.

"I'd rather not tell" I hesitantly say, but neither Don nor Raph made any movement to stop me, or correct my potential mistake. They stayed perfectly still, both glancing at the phone sitting in the middle of the table.

"Why don't you want to tell honey? Are you being threatened?" Denise asks, but I shake my head, forgetting that she couldn't see me for a second.

"I'm not, we just don't know if our concerns are valid, and we'd rather not cause unnecessary problems" I spoke up. Denise was silent for a few seconds. There was some noise on the other end of the line before she scraped her throat.

"You said 'we', are more people present right now?" She asks, and I glance around, earning a nod from Don.

"Yes, two of my little brothers are here"

"Okay, are you in a safe location, or are you in any danger?" She asks but I shake my head again.

"No, we're in a room in the library." I explain, glancing around for a quick second to confirm we were really save here. But as always, the library rooms were soundproof, and could be locked, so we could make the call without anyone interrupting us.

"Why are you calling, do you think someone in your class is being abused?" She asks, and there was a rustling sound from the other line before I continued.

"No, our little brother. We think our little brother is abused" There was, again, a short silence on the other end of the line.

"Do you suspect he is being abused by your father?" She asks softly, and I give a sound of approval. "Okay, why don't you tell me why you think that, we can go over it together. Does that sound good?" She asks, as if I was a 10 year old. But again, I was glad, my heart was racing too much as it was.

I was glad she was keeping it simple, and organised.

"We searched some websites, and my little brother matches a lot of symptoms that would hint at child abuse" I tell her, looking at Don. "My other brother will list them, is that okay?"

"That would be great" She acknowledge, and I gesture to Don. He nods, auburn eyes focused on the paper and the phone. I turn to Raph as Don starts to list all the symptoms, my heart breaking bit by bit as tears were lingering in his eyes. He looked at me with a bewildered face.

I reach out, grasping his hand and squeezing it. He scowls slightly, wiping them away with one hand, while squeezing back with the other.

"Okay, I wrote them all down, but I promise you this will stay confidential." Denise told us. "Will it be okay if I ask a coworker into this conversation, she had more experience with singling out" She asks, and Don looks up to me with a questioning look. I nod, the more the merrier right? I thought grimly.

"That's okay, we just want to help our little brother" Don responds. There was a moment of silence, before more sound could be heard from the other side.

"Hello guys, my name is Elise" Another voice came through the phone. "I know this is unusual but I, unfortunately enough, have had some cases with singling out"

"Singlin' out?" Raph speaks up for the first time. I don't look at him, too focused on the phone.

"When only one sibling is targeted by the parent or parents. I am assuming your father has never hit you, if that's true and he is hurting your younger brother, that's called singling out"

"No he never hit us" Raph whispers, and I could almost hear the nod coming from Elise.

"When did he start showing these symptoms?" Elise asks, and Don looks at me, pushing the phone at bit in my direction.

"We went on a holiday trip with the three of us for 10 days, and when we got home he was acting out and showing more of those symptoms"

"Is there no mother figure present?" Denise asks, but I shake my head again.

"No, she died giving birth to us" There was a silence again from the other side, only a low whispering was heard. But the words were too silent for us to hear it, so we couldn't make out what they were saying.

"I know you don't want to tell your information, but we are really concerned" Elise spoke softly, and I could feel both Raph and Don stare at me with horrified eyes. "You mentioned it was your youngest brother, which could be because your father blame him for your mother's death."

There was a silence, but nobody commented.

"You also mentioned he has been isolated from his family, and that he had a fight with his brother, these are all risk factors." Elise spoke, trying to keep her voice soft. "Your little brother's attitude has changed dramatically after your trip, which could mean that your father has been emotionally abusing him before, but turned physical during the trip"

"Wait why?" Raph frowns, interrupted Elise.

"Because for some reason, he doesn't want you three to know. Having you away for an extended period gave him the perfect opportunity to physically assault your brother"

"But now we're back, he wouldn't.. right?" Don asks softly, but uncertainty lingered in his eyes.

"Child abuse .. develops, for the lack of better word. It is very plausible he can't stop once he started"

"What can we do?" Don whispers, and I look at him. Neither of my little brothers seemed calm, both disturbed by the advice the lady was giving us. It still felt so surreal, and yet so real at the same time. We were having this conversation, in a library, while we were actually supposed to be at school.

Talking to Denise and Elise from childhelp because we suspected dad was abusing Mikey.

And neither of them ever denied the statement. Only believing in it more and more.

"You said you don't want to report it without being certain, but I would suggest you do. And if you still stand by that statement, ask your little brother, get him to conform him, and look out for injuries or odd behaviour" Denise spoke.

"We will, thank you for the advice" Don whispers, lingering for a moment before disconnecting the call. A single tear rolled down his cheek and he quickly wiped it away.

"What now?" Raph asks.

"I want to go home" Don answers honestly.

"Ya've school still" Raph remarks but Don shakes his head.

"I don't care… I could get away with missing classes. I just want to check on Mikey, he's alone with dad"

"I'm coming with" I state sternly, arms crossed. Raph nods, and we all stand up. It was a tense ride home, nobody saying anything, or feeling up to saying anything, or think about the consequences our paranoia could be causing. All three of us still had classes, dad would be furious if he realised we were skipping.

Or even disappointed if we accused him of child abuse when that wasn't the case.

But it was worth the risk.

I quickly parked the car next to the house, turning it off before getting out. Raph and I locked eyes for a moment, before walking over to the door. There was a weird pressure in my chest, something telling me that the situation wasn't right.

"Dad will kill us for being so paranoid" Don remarks dryly, standing beside me as I opened the door. "He will-"

Then I opened the door, and everyone fell silent.

Mikey coughed, blood spilling onto the floor he was laying on, stomach down. Dad was sitting on the table, a bottle of whiskey next to him and one in his hand. A bloody belt was laying next to him, discarded like it was trash. Not caring about anything else other than the bottle of whiskey.

Not even caring about the bloody gashes on Mikey's back.

"YOU… you SON OF A BITCH" Raph cried out. Dad whipped his head around in fear, eyes going wide. But before he could react, either from the alcohol or his surprise, Raph was already running at him.

"Don call 911" I order. "And get the kitchen knife"

Don obeys without question, darting towards the kitchen and simultaneously taking out his phone. I snap my head to the side, running before I could even spot Mikey. I immediately fell to my knees, hands ghosting over Mikey's body.

The gashes on his bare back were all too clear.

We were right, and we were too late.


	4. Chapter 4

"Mikey?! Mikey!" I cry out, hands ghosting over his body. Mikey whimpers, trying to twist or crawl away.

"No.. you're not supposed to be here" He whimpers, voice laced with pain, both emotional and physical.

"I am here little brother, I'm not leaving you" I look up. "We're not leaving you" Raph had released dad, who was now sporting a bloody nose and a gash above his eye. My immediate younger brother was standing next to Don, holding a knife out, and pointing it at dad in both fear and anger.

Don was talking on the phone, talking to the police no doubt.

"No.. we'll be separated.. taken away.. can't see you" Mikey mutters but I shush him, carefully lifting him up and pressing his chest against mine.

"Don't think about that little brother" I gently rocked him back and forth, ignoring the way my hands coated in his blood. "Don't think about it, you're safe now, I got you"

"Lemme go.. you have to leave" Mikey continues, weakly pressing against my chest but I don't release my hold on him. Like hell I was going to let him go. I failed him once, I'm not going to fail him again. I didn't give a damn about being separated right now, I didn't give a damn about anything other than keeping Mikey safe.

I look up, catching Don's gaze, who was staring at me with terrified eyes. He was caught between holding one of the knives at dad, and rushing towards Mikey.

"Go, I got this asshole" Raph muttered through gritted teeth, taking the second knife from his immediate younger brother. But dad didn't move at all, sitting against the wall, but too drunk to care probably. I took my eyes of the man we always called father, staring at Don's figure instead.

His eyes were wide with fear, roaming over the gashes that were exposed to him. Mikey whimpers as Don tenderly touched them, burying his face deeper into my chest. His back was bad.. no matter how much worse it could've been, it was bad. Only two or three gashes were bleeding really.

The rest were all angry, red and swollen, but the skin was still intact. It would no doubt bruise considerably. But it wasn't as bad as could've been. I shudder at the thought. It could've been much worse.

"Paramedics are on their way" He tells me, voice filled with fear, just as his eyes. I look at the belt, still laying on the ground, sneering at it. Such an innocent item, right under our noses, but hurting our littlest brother in one of the worst way possible.

Nobody dared to speak, and Don quickly walked over to the sink, grabbing a clean towel and soaking it in water. Dad still didn't move, and neither did Raph. I glanced up at Don as he crouched down again, putting the towel on Mikey's back. The latter hisses, burying his face deeper into my chest.

But the cold eventually caused him to relax slightly, slumping against me. We didn't speak, and I just held Mikey until I heard a car park in front of our house.

"POLICE, open the door!"

"Come in, please!" I cry, not wanting to move, leave my little brothers behind in the current state. And the door was still unlocked, just closed. Of course no one had bothered to lock it properly. Two officers walked into the home.

"Police, put your hands in the air!" One of them cried out, eyes searching before they landed on Mikey. "Code 373D, send ambulance. Suspect is unharmed and neutralised, no further backup required"

TMNT

"The answers were right in front of us, and yet we didn't want to believe it" Don whispers, arms wrapped tightly around himself as he stared out of the window. He looks around, facing us.

"We knew Don, we knew but we didn't do shit" Raph retorts, glaring at no one in particular. I knew he was mostly angry at himself for not acting out.

"We should've acted sooner" I agree, rubbing my arms and staring down at the sleeping figure of my youngest brother. Mikey was unconscious, laying on the hospital bed. He had been put under with a sedative, because he was too distressed and couldn't calm down while the doctors treated his wounds.

He hadn't woken up just yet. And it had already been several hours.

"I'm so sorry little bro" I whisper, rubbing his hand, even if he couldn't feel it probably.

"How are you guys holding up?" A nurse asks, standing in the opening of the door.

"Any news on da-" Don stops himself, glaring at the ground and balling his fist. "Any news on him?"

"He is in a holding cell right now, what will happen now is beyond my knowledge I'm afraid" She tells us, walking into the room. Only then do I notice the tray she was carrying. She smiled, walking over to Don first and handing him one of the sandwiches, who accepted it gratefully.

She passed one to both me and Raph as well, sitting down on one of the chairs.

"But he was caught in an unspeakable act, he will pay for his crimes" She continues, looking at the three of us. "How are you holding up?" She asks again, and I look down to the ground.

"As well as you'd expect" I mutter, and she smiles hesitantly, yet, before she could say something else, someone knocked on the door. We all turned to the door, another nurse standing in the doorway, and a man behind her.

"Your uncle arrived" She tells us, allowing for Yoshi, our uncle, to walk through the door. He looks at all of us with wide and fearful eyes, landing on Mikey's still form.

"Brother.. what have you done?" He whispers, taking several steps into the room. "Are you three alright?" He asks us, and I nod, glancing at Raph and Don, but neither objected. At least, physically we were, emotionally however..

"I have heard about the four of you from your grandmother, I have seen pictures but I have yet to meet you" He continues, walking up to me with cautious steps. "Leonardo I presume. My name is Hamato Yoshi, your… father's brother" He says, hesitating slightly. That man didn't deserve the title of father.

Oroku Saki was only our father by blood, not by bond or anything else.

Not anymore.

"That's Raph, and that's Don" I continue, pointing at Raph and Don respectively. Yoshi nods, sitting down on the last free chair.

"How is Michelangelo's condition?" He asks, turning his attention to the nurse instead. The latter sighs, reaching for the chart that was on the end of Mikey's hospital bed, looking down at it.

"Multiple linear marks on his back, resulting in bruises. A few of them were gashes, suggesting he was hit with the buckle of the belt. Forensics found blood on it too. We stitched those to minimise scarring. He also has a split lip, and a black eye, probably both from a fist"

Yoshi sighs, regret and sadness evident on his face.

"What is going to happen now?" He asks.

"Our first priority is making sure Michelangelo is alright, both mentally and physically." I wince slightly, knowing what she was implying. That Mikey wouldn't be right mentally for a long time. "Then we look at accommodations, and we often reach out to family members.. if they do not exhibit the same violent behaviour"

"I would never" Yoshi immediately defends, but there is a calmness in his voice that is so foreign. The nurse smiles gently, nodding.

"If that's proven, we will talk about adopting.. and if no relative is willing they'll be put in foster care" There was a slight questioning undertone in her voice, but it was a legit one, who would want to adopt four children at once? It was something we dreaded, something we knew'd happen if dad.. Saki was really abusing Mikey.

"I will adopt them" Yoshi states without hesitance and I look at him, a shocked expression on my face. "You are family Leonardo, I will not let you four be separated" He answers my confusion, but still, I was sceptical.

"I know you do not know me, and I know of the ill stories my brother has probably told you. But I know what it is like to be separated from your siblings. When Saki abandoned his family, he abandoned me as well. And while not on great terms, I still missed my brother."

"You weren't jealous that mom choose him instead of you?" I ask, and Yoshi chuckles slightly.

"I have been at the beginning, yet slightly. But I could not force Shen to choose me over my brother. She loved me, and I loved her, but she loved my brother more. Not even our child could convince her otherwise"

"Hold up, her child?" Don cut in, eyes on our uncle. Yoshi looks up at Don, nodding.

"I was in a relationship with Shen for 2 years when she got pregnant. Yet, even before she gave birth, she started seeing my brother. 3 months after Miwa was born-" He stops himself, taking a deep breath and looking down. "I am sorry, I still grieve" He says.

"That's okay Yoshi, take your time" I whisper, and he nods at me.

"I am going to check on the doctor" The nurse interrupts, leaving quietly, for which I was grateful. I watched as she left the room, shutting the door on her way out and leaving us alone. And something told me everyone understood that she just wanted to give us a little privacy.

"Saki came to my house, demanding a fight. In our battle, the house that belonged to Shen and I burned down, scarring me" He continues, lifting his sleeve to reveal a huge burn mark on his arm. "We got out safely, but Shen choose Saki over me." Yoshi continues, looking at us again.

"What happened next?" I ask, and Yoshi looks at me for a moment.

"Shen had always wanted to move back to New York, as she was American born. She convinced Saki to go, but legally could not take Miwa with her without my consent. I could not move away from Japan yet, and was not willing to lose Shen and Miwa. And for that, I was selfish"

"That's not selfish at all Yoshi, that's parental love." Don whispers softly.

"Not like we know much of parental love" Raph mutters grimly, before glancing at Yoshi. "But ya did the right thing Yoshi, Miwa was yours as well, Shen… Mom I guess, couldn't just take that from you"

"We have a half sister?" Don questions at that, sending me a confused look. I shake my head, willing to not focus on that right now. I just wanted to hear the end of the story.

"Shen kept minimum contact when she was away, never visiting, and it was not rare for us to lose contact for an extended period of time." Yoshi continues carefully. "10 months after her departure, on Miwa's first birthday, I made another attempt" He stops, a heavy silence following.

"What happened?" I whisper softly, not trying to rush him into telling the rest of the story, but curious nonetheless.

"I found out she had died giving birth to a child, four I learned later on from mother" He continued, and I look down at the ground. It was painful hearing about mom like that, like she was in the wrong almost, but also hearing the pain Yoshi obviously still felt. "Two years later, my father died from old age, and I decided to honour Shen's dreams and take Miwa to the United States"

"So you live here?" Don asks, and Yoshi nods.

"I have always lived here, Shen had been born in New York City and had always wanted to return. I had no knowledge of your residence however, and Saki had always refused contact"

"And Miwa?" I ask softly.

"She is in Junior year as of now" I nod, that would make sense. According to Yoshi's story, Miwa was more or less a year older than us, and we were all currently sophomores.

"Excuse me, Mr. Hamato?" The nurse interrupts. "I would like to collect some DNA samples for a DNA test"

"A DNA test?" Yoshi asks, frowning slightly. The nurse smiled, walking inside and placing her bag next to Yoshi.

"There are questionable records of you being family, so we want to run a test to make sure you are their uncle. This is a basic procedure we do very often if the father figure isn't present for example. Siblings share approximately 50% of the same DNA, so an uncle would share 25% with a nephew or niece" She tells him, opening up her bag.

She takes out a few stuff, turning to Yoshi again. He follows without having to be told so, opening his mouth to allow the nurse to swipe the inside of his cheek. She turns to us as well, obvious what she wanted. I nod, allowing her to swipe my cheek as well, followed quickly by Don and Raph.

Then she gently took a sample from Mikey as well, who stirred slightly but remained unresponsive for the most part.

"There, all done" She smiles widely. "Results will be back within 2 working days, you will get a notification" She says, closing her back with the swipes.

"And what will happen now? Could I take the boys home for the night?"

"We're not leaving Mikey" Raph glares but Yoshi pays no attention to him.

"You could, but you are not their legal guardian yet. You should keep that in mind."

"I understand" Yoshi nods, watching as the nurse left again.

"We ain't leaving Mikey" Raph insists again, and Yoshi nods.

"I would suspect as much"

TMNT

Hours later, middle of the night.

"Welcome back little bro" I smile as Mikey opens his eyes warily. he looks at me, frowning slightly. I reach over to the light, turning it on a bit more so make seeing a bit easier.

"What happened?" Mikey croaks, trying to sit up but stiffening with a pained hiss.

"Dad hurt you" I whisper. "Leo, Raph and I came home early and saw you.. you remember that don't you?" He frowns, looking down at the blankets, before he hesitantly nods.

"You should've left me D, now we-"

"Don't even think that Mikey" I interrupt him, almost glaring at him, but I wasn't mad at him. Sad that he would even consider it, sad that he seriously thought being hurt was worth not telling us. "I'm not mad you didn't tell, but don't even think you should feel guilty"

"But .. but dad said he'd hurt you.. they would take us away if I told anyone" Mikey tries, looking up with teary eyes. "I don't want to get separated" He whimpers, lifting his arm to wipe away the tears.

"We won't be separated Mikey" I whisper, reaching out for him, he looks at me with a slight frown on his face. "Yoshi, dad's brother, is willing to take us in"

"He is?" Mikey questions softly, and I sigh, taking his hand and giving it a comfortable squeeze.

"He said he would, we have to wait for a DNA test to confirm he's our uncle first but there's a big chance he is, and we won't get separated" I tell him, and he takes a shuddering breath, nodding. "How are you feeling?"

Mikey is silent for a moment, turning his face away from me after the question. He seemed tense, on edge from the question, or what it made him think of. I smile sadly at him, trying to coax him into saying something. I just wanted to know how my only little brother was doing right now.

I wanted to help him, give him someone to talk to.

"Sore.." He mumbles, and I sigh.

"I meant emotionally"

He's silent at the question, looking away from me. "I don't know" He answers honestly, his voice a whisper. "I don't know how I should feel"

"That's okay Mikey" I whisper back at him. "We will figure this out together, we won't fail you again."

"You never failed me D" He retorts. I smile slightly, shaking my head but making no effort to correct him. Because he was wrong, we did fail him. We failed him by not noticing that he was abused right under our noses, we failed to recognise the obvious signs, failed to further question his odd behaviour.

We failed him.

"Sleep Mikey, just sleep some more. In the morning we will go home with Yoshi" I tell him gently, looking up at the door. The room was entirely dark, no light other than the light the moon provided. Leo and Raph had probably fallen asleep as well right now, but they were in another room right now.

Even Yoshi had, much to my surprise, stayed at the hospital for the night. He already cared more than dad. I scowl, shaking my head, before standing up.

"Wait" Mikey whispers, and I frown. "Stay"

"I'm just moving to the chair" I tell him gently, but he shakes his head, carefully lifting the blanket. I snicker, taking the invitation and crawling into the hospital bed.

"This used to be so much more comfortable when you were still small" I mutter and he smiled slightly despite the situation. He doesn't respond however, curling up against my side and closing his eyes.

"m'sorry for not telling" He mutters but I shake my head again, bringing him closer to me, not saying anything. I start to hum softly, until I felt his breath even out against my neck, and only then did I dare to close my eyes for the first time since we discovered him in the living room.

The memory still too fresh in my mind.


	5. Chapter 5

"You ready to go?" Leo asks softly, looking down at his youngest brother, who was still sitting on the hospital bed. A quick glance was given towards Yoshi, who was already standing in the doorway.

"Will I ever be?" Mikey asks in a light tone, and Leo smiled, nudging Mikey before they both stood up.

"I understand that this might all be overwhelming for you, all of you. But I would like to try to make it as comfortable as possible" Yoshi said softly as Leo almost led Mikey out of the room. I smile up at Yoshi, following Raph closely.

"Don't worry Yoshi, you're already doing so much by keeping us together" I whisper almost hesitantly, and I could see Raph glance backwards for a second before continuing his way to the garage where Yoshi's car was parked.

"Why do you have such a big car?" Mikey, of all people, questions softly, waiting patiently at the door. Yoshi smiled gently, unlocking the car and opening the door for Mikey, Leo and Raph to enter through. I walk around the car, taking the front seat for once.

"So I can help out my students from the dojo when their parents are unable to drive" He answers, and I nod thoughtfully. Yoshi had told us about the dojo he had, actually quite close to our school. Because of his inheritance, he had more than enough money for a lifetime and didn't need an actual job to support himself.

So instead of charging money, he offered free lessons to those less unfortunate in the area. It was like everything dad.. Saki.. had told us has proven to be wrong. Yoshi was anything but selfish, or arrogant, he was the complete opposite. Made me wonder what else he had been lying about instead.

I glance backwards, seeing the occasional muscles in Mikey's face twitch in pain, but otherwise stay relaxed. What had Saki lied about? Did mom really die for example. I immediately shake my head, no, he couldn't have possibly faked that, that one was a given. But anything after that…

Everything we knew was doubtful all of a sudden.

"What are you thinking about Donatello?" Yoshi inquires softly, and I chuckle, shaking my head.

"Just thinking about stuff" I mutter, glancing to my left for a moment. He nods at the answer, but doesn't continue, and for that I am grateful.

We continue to drive for a couple of minutes until we arrive at his home. It was an apartment, three stories high.

"I know it is not much, but I had always lived here with Miwa and myself" He tells us, before opening the front door. It was beautiful, not spectacular but still beautiful. The living room was small, but cosy, with a separate kitchen.

"It's more than enough" Leo tries but Yoshi shakes his head with an amused smile.

"For now that may be so, but if I were to adopt you four, we will need a bigger residence"

"You mean movin'?" Raph asks sceptically, and Yoshi nods.

"You would do that for us?" I mutter, again, causing Yoshi to nod.

"I would, you deserve proper bedrooms, but I refuse to let you go back to your old home. If we were to start fresh, that house is not the right way" Yoshi continues, looking at the four of us. "Or did you wish to return?" He adds softly.

It was Mikey who shook his head first. "Not after what happened no, that place will only remind me of.. Saki" He says, an awkward silence as he too almost refers to Saki as dad. He shrugs slightly.

"That is true, and for that, we will have to find a new home"

TMNT

"Dad?" An unknown, female, voice calls out, resonating through the room. I look up, eyes landing on the girl that walked into the room.

"Miwa, you are home early" Yoshi calls out, looking at the girl that was now standing in the door opening, and looking at us. Mikey was leaning against me from his spot on the couch, a blanket lightly wrapped around him, something that always calmed him down when he got sick or upset.

Don was sitting on the other side, and Raph was sitting next to him. Yoshi sitting on one of the two separate chairs. The girl, Miwa as Yoshi just addressed her, had black hair. It was similar to mom's old hairstyle, yet a bit shorter and more curly. She also wore light, natural makeup.

"Teacher didn't show up" She answers shortly, but her attention was noticeably on the four of us.

"Come sit with us Miwa" Yoshi addresses softly, and Miwa nods, shaking off her jacket before walking over to the last remaining chair. She sat down, legs curled under her. "These are your nephews I told you about"

"I figured as much" Miwa says, nodding and her eyes landed on Mikey for a second before she averted her gaze again. "I'm Miwa, Hamato Miwa" She says, a slight grin on her face, but the slightly awkward tension in the air was all too evident.

"Are we her nephews though" Raph mutters lowly in Japanese, and I frown slightly. Raph was right, technically we were also half siblings, as we shared the same mother.

"You do realise my dad is also Japanese?" Miwa calls out, snickering slightly, and Raph pales slightly at the implication. She understood what Raph had just said. "But I suppose we kinda are, though let's not make this any more complicated than it already is" She shrugs and I nod.

"I second that" I smile, shifting slightly on the spot. "I'm Leonardo, or Leo for short" I glance to the right, nudging Mikey softly. He seemed a bit quiet, but I guess that's to be expecting after everything had happened. It was a mystery that he still acted so hyper around all of us even though dad put him through all that.

"I'm Mikey, Michelangelo" He says, and Miwa nods, eyes traveling to Don.

"Donatello, Don, Donnie, take your pick" He shrugs, and Miwa smiles at that, turning to Raph.

"Raphael, Raph" I snort almost, my immediate younger brother keeping it short as always. Never one to speak too much when he didn't feel it added something.

"When does the test come back?" Miwa asks, turning to Yoshi instead.

"It should be done tomorrow, and we will be at the hospital so the nurses can check if Michelangelo's wounds are healing correctly" Miwa's face falls slightly, glancing at Mikey with pity in her eyes. "After that, we will pursue the adoption legally"

"You're sure you want to adopt us?" Don asks softly, and I carefully reach out for him. I didn't like hearing him so unsure, so doubtful.

"I am certain Donatello, I will not let your four be separated" Yoshi nods, turning to Miwa. "If you are okay with that my daughter"

"I'm not sharing my room" She snickers, and Yoshi chuckles. Still there is some confusion in Miwa's voice.

"I had wanted to talk to you about that, it is evident that we would not be able to live here anymore." Yoshi explains to his daughter. "If it is okay with you, I would wish to find a more suitable home"

Miwa looks at us for a second, before turning her gaze back to her dad again, and shrugging. "I'm always down for a bigger home, this was getting a bit cramped" She says, and Yoshi smiles gently, turning to the four of us. I can't help but smile as well, feeling a sense of safety fill me again.

I look over at my little brothers, both still together. And for the first time in the past 24 hours, and maybe even since we came back from the skiing trip, I allowed myself to hope, to think that everything would be okay.

TMNT

"I know it is not much, but it is all I can offer for now" Yoshi spoke softly, but guilt was all too evident in his voice. I frown slightly, turning around.

"It's more than enough Yoshi, staying together is far more important than having separate bedrooms" I spoke, glancing back at the room again. I was a relatively small room, and four mattresses were stacked in the room. Raph and Mikey had already proceeded to push them all together. Two by two.

But it was evident that this was a temporary solution. Yoshi only had one guest room, and the other two rooms were for him and Miwa.

"Someone keen to go with me to the grocery store?" Miwa asks, walking across the hallway and over to us. She glances into the room, chuckling in an amused matter. Mikey and Raph glance upwards, a slight grin on both their faces. Don was still standing next to the mattresses.

"I'll go" I offer, and Yoshi nods.

"That is much appreciated Leonardo, but not necessary" He spoke but I shake my head.

"It's the least I can do now Yoshi." I glance at Raph and Mikey. "Be careful with your back" I warn him, even though I knew both Yoshi and Miwa would be able to understand it, I still spoke Japanese. It just felt more natural… more safe for some reason. Mikey rolls his eyes, and Raph pushes Mikey away with an amused grin.

I chuckle as well, shaking my head and following Miwa downstairs. It was evident that Mikey wasn't entirely okay, but he wasn't entirely numb anymore either, like he'd been when we just found him, or when he was brought into the hospital room.

"And just like that, it's done with the silence in our home" Miwa chuckles as we walk outside.

"I'm really sorry about barging into your life like that" I speak softly, but Miwa chuckles again.

"Don't be Leo. Besides, I kinda always wanted younger siblings. Dad is great, but he's by no means the best company at certain times"

"He never married or something?" I ask, glancing to the side as we continued to walk ahead. Miwa shook her head, sighing.

"He tried a few times, dated a few, but I think he clung to mom still. Her death hit him hard, and I know he misses Japan" Miwa takes a soft breath, but it didn't seem like she was very upset about telling the story, so I didn't interrupt her. "I know he moved to the US cause mom was born here and always wanted to return"

"But he doesn't like America?" I ask softly, and Miwa shrugs.

"Who knows really, he's not really talkative about personal stuff. But I suppose he'd prefer Japan over America still" She stops for a moment, turning to me. "And he knew you guys were in New York as well, I guess that helped too"

"Did he talk a lot about us, about Saki?" I ask softly, and Miwa nods silently, walking ahead again. I follow her silently.

"He didn't know much, he just knew you were out there. He did talk about Saki though. About his fight, about mom leaving him. But he never spoke about him.. he never depicted Saki as a monster if that's what you're asking."

"What do you mean?" I ask, and Miwa sighs again. For a second she glances at me, before continuing the walk.

"He told me that Saki took Shen from him, but he always sort of defended him. Saying that Shen made that choice herself, that she was free to choose, never solemnly blamed him for the fight. He tried to stay neutral if that makes sense" She told me, and I nod. "Sorry, does it bother you when I talk about Saki like that.. I know he was your, well.. dad"

I take a shuddering breath, but I shake my head. "Not as much as I'd expect" I say, smiling slightly. We continued to walk into the grocery store, and Miwa grabbed the cart. I just mindlessly followed, but I was relaxed, not as on edge as I had been.

"Can you tell me more about Yoshi, and mom?" I ask hesitantly, and Miwa looks at me, before a smile appears on her face and she nods.

"Of course"

TMNT

Next day

"The wounds seemed to be healing well, the stitches are holding together nicely" The nurse smiles gently, allowing Mikey's shirt to fall over his bruised back. "How is the pain?"

Mikey looks up, waiting for a second as the nurse walks around the examination table.

"It still burns slightly" He admits. I sigh slightly, glancing at Raph and Don. It was still hard to hear about, and see the wounds on his back. It only proved how much we had actually failed him. There was no excuse for not noticing it, there was no excuse for the fact that Mikey didn't trust us enough to tell.

And that was not Mikey's problem, that was ours.

"That is perfectly normal, I will describe you some more pills so you can sleep through the night" Mikey nods numbly, glancing at the three of us before glancing back to the nurse. "Here you go" The nurse smiles, handing Yoshi the medicine, which he carefully put in his bag.

A knock on the door interrupted the silence, and there was a guy standing in the doorframe. The nurse frowns slightly, turning to the guy.

"I'm here with the DNA results" The man announces, and the nurse immediately turns towards us, signalling for the man to step in. There was a weird look on his face, something that immediately told us what we've all secretly feared. Yoshi wasn't our uncle, he wasn't family.

Would he still be willing to adopt us?.

I shake my head slightly, I couldn't think like that right now. I didn't know the test results. For all I know he was our uncle. Or something else had come up. Just wait patiently I told myself.

The man sits down, and Mikey walks over to us, sitting down between Raph and I, barely fitting as we were already sitting quite close to each other. Raph grumbles, but didn't make any effort to push Mikey away, instead wrapping an arm around him.

"Is it not as expected?" Yoshi asks softly, standing up and walking over to the couch we were sitting on, lingering his hand above Don's shoulder.

"It's not" The man spoke, taking out the documents and looking at it, but the man has probably already seen it, known what exactly what was on it. "You're not their uncle Yoshi" I close my eyes, taking a shuddering breath.

There was no point in denying it right now.. Yoshi wasn't our uncle, and now he would have no reason to adopt us.

"Yoshi isn't related to dad at all?" Don asks softly, but the fear was so evident in his voice. He was afraid of the, now, inevitable.. we'd be separated.

"Do not worry Donatello, I have already assured you this test would not change my decision" Yoshi speaks up, interrupting the man, who was about to speak again. "I still stand with my previous decision, I will not let you four be separated"

Still, that didn't convince me fully. He still had no reason to adopt us other than us being related to his brother.. at least, that's what we thought. If he wasn't our uncle.. did that mean that Yoshi wasn't Saki's brother? It wouldn't be too weird, they didn't even look alike, maybe one was adopted.

I frown, turning back to the man, who was looking at us with an almost guilty expression.

"Guys, please let me speak" He told us, glancing at Yoshi. "Mister Hamato, you are not the uncle of the boys" He stops for a moment, sighing before reaching out to hand Yoshi the paper he was holding, who accepted them with a slight frown.

"You are the biological father"


	6. Chapter 6

"You are the biological father"

Silence.. absolute silence.

"You are the biological father"

Disbelief, confusion. Yoshi was our.. biological father? Had dad lied to us? Or did he not know? 10 months after her departure, on Miwa's first birthday, I made another attempt Yoshi had told us. I found out she had died giving birth to a child. He had continued. 10 months, and she was already dead by then.

It could've happened a month ago.

"When are you four born?" I could hear Yoshi whisper, a shocked expression on his face.

"October 1997" Don croaks, and I look at him. His expression is full of shock, disbelief. Yoshi's eyes widen in fear again, before he closes his eyes in sadness. He takes a shuddering breath, opening his eyes to look at the four of us again. Mikey and Raph hadn't said anything either yet.

But they had the same look of disbelief on their faces.

"Mister Hamato?" The man asks softly, and Yoshi whirls his head around, facing the man.

"October 1997" Yoshi whispers, more to himself than anyone else. "That is 8 months after Shen left" He continues, turning his head towards us. It was so strange seeing him so distraught, from what we've seen, and from what Miwa has told he was always so collected, so guarded.

But right now, the confusion and anguish was so clear on his face.

"We were born two weeks premature" Mikey whispers softly, and I could feel Raph tightening his hold on Mikey, bringing him a little closer.

"My sons…" Yoshi hesitantly calls out, wide eyes. "You four are my sons" And even if the idea was very plausible, and even though the tests confirmed it, I still… couldn't seem to believe it. What were the odds of mom being pregnant with dad.. with Yoshi, instead of Saki?

Mom must've thought she was pregnant with Saki… but she had been always pregnant with Yoshi.. with dad apparently. Which made sense, she left 3 months after Miwa was born, had seen Yoshi just before she left. And then, 8 and a half months later.. we were born. Even if dad only knew after 10 months.

"What will happen now?" Don asks softly, but no answer came. Slowly, and yet so sudden, Mikey slipped from Raph's grasp, standing up and almost sprinting to the door.

"Mikey!" Raph calls after him but Mikey doesn't listen. Raph immediately gets off his seat as well, darting after our little brother. I can feel my legs moving before I can register it myself, following my two little brothers.

"Otouto!" I cry out, but Mikey doesn't seem to hear us. He struggles outside, almost falling over his own feet and stumbling against the wall. He turns around, sliding down the wall until he was sitting. He drew his knees up to his chest, burying his face in them, before he allowed himself to break down.

Sobs wracked through his body, and cries of anguish left his throat.

I was frozen on the spot, frozen and unable to move. Raph, however, wasn't. He slowly walks over to Mikey, dropping to one knee and reaching out carefully. Being so slow, and so cautious that was almost foreign for him. Mikey doesn't react, but Raph wasn't the one to give up so soon.

He wraps his arms around Mikey, and almost immediately, Mikey leans into the touch like a starved dog. He presses his face in Raph's chest, clinging to his older brother and continuing to wail.

I could hear Don take a shuddering breath next to me, and when I looked, I could see tears in his face, threatening to fall. But he didn't dare to let them fall, muscles tightening as he looked at Mikey and Raph. I reach out without thinking about it, pulling him closer to me and wrapping my arms around him as well.

He's surprised for a moment, even trying to get out of the grasp for a moment, but the attempt was futile, and he didn't even try to begin with to be honest. And before I know it, Don was sobbing as well.

Saki wasn't our father…

TMNT

"What happened?" Miwa asked the moment she walked through the front door. Her eyes fell on the four of us again, before they travelled to dad sitting, alone, at the dinner table. I didn't dare to say anything, glancing at dad as a way of telling Miwa that she had to ask him.

Dad lifted his head, revealing tears in his eyes.

"Come sit down Miwa" He says softly, and Miwa hesitantly walks over to the table.

"What happened dad? Why did the principle send me home early?" She continues, and dad carefully reaches out for Miwa's hand, taking a shuddering breath. Miwa sits down, not breaking eye contact with dad.

"Your nephews… they aren't your nephews" He whispers, and Miwa immediately whirls her head around towards us, glancing at the four of us. Mikey was still huddled against me, and even Raph had wrapped his arms tightly around Don. But even he seemed completely out of it, numb to the situation.

"They are your younger brothers… the DNA test revealed I am their father" He continued to spoke, and Miwa's eyes widened in shock.

"W-what?" She stutters, looking at us almost hesitantly.

"The day your mother left with Saki to America.. she had been pregnant with me. We are still uncertain if she had known or not"

"She couldn't have known… she would've told" Miwa whispers, but Yoshi shakes his head softly, reaching out and squeezing Miwa's hand.

"It is possible she feared, but did not live to voice her doubts to Saki" He frowns slightly. "Or she feared her own safety, and that of the boys" I look down, glancing at Mikey uneasily. If he was already that deranged to hurt Mikey just for taking mom away, who knows what he would've done if he knew we weren't his children?

What would he have done to us all, or even mom, if she told him she was instead pregnant with Yoshi?

"I don't believe it, what will happen now?" Miwa whispers. But the silence coming from dad meant one thing, he wasn't sure either.

TMNT

"My sons?" Dad hesitantly called out, and I glance up from the corner of the room. Both Raph and Mikey get up, already under the blankets. Leo was standing next to dad, but walked into the room as well, until he was standing beside me. "Can I talk to you real quick before bed?"

"Sure" I say, glancing at Leo. But he seemed calm, so whatever it was, wasn't serious. Dad sighs, it still felt weird to call him that, but at the same time it felt completely neutral.

"I have spoken to our lawyer, and he has assured me that you four will not have to participate in the trial" The trial, dad getting parental rights from Saki. I instinctively glance at Mikey, who seemed to be gazing down at his lap. Raph reached out for him, wrapping an arm around his shoulders.

"And Saki?" Raph asks, glancing at dad.

"He'll be facing serious charges but he has yet to appear in court."

"No I mean should we be there?" Raph shakes his head slightly.

"I am afraid you will have to testify, but you are not required to attend the whole process as you are still minors" I feel myself nodding numbly, glancing at Leo for a moment.

"That's fair I guess" Mikey mutters, shuddering slightly. "I just don't like the idea of seeing him again"

"We're doing this together little brother" Leo says softly, crouching down next to Mikey and putting a hand on his shoulder. Mikey smiled gently, nodding.

"Sleep for now my sons, tomorrow is a new day" Dad spoke with a soft smile on his face as well. "I will be getting some recommendations from our estate agent for new accommodations, would you like to take a look at them tomorrow as well?" He continues. We were, of course, grateful to have a roof above our heads.

To be together with the promise of staying together. But even I couldn't deny the fact that this house was a temporary solution. It was way too small for 6 people. So while it was okay to share one room with my 3 brothers for now, in the long run we would need a different house to settle in.

"Of course" Mikey grins, and I snicker.

"I will see you boys tomorrow then, sleep well" He said, and we all said goodbye as dad closes the door behind him.

TMNT

"This is the last house, and personally, so far it has been my favourite" Dad spoke, pushing the laptop towards us to get a better view. I was sitting in the middle of my brothers, Raph and Mikey next to me, and Don and Miwa standing behind me. But all looking at the pictures in front of us.

The house was quite big, but not unreasonably big. There were 6 bedrooms, and four bathrooms. The living room was connected with the kitchen, a lot of windows to let it the maximum amount of light. There was another room attached to the living room, which could easily be used by dad as a dojo, it was big enough.

The first floor held 4 bedrooms, and two bathrooms. So one for each of my brothers. And on the second floor two bedrooms were present, each had its own bathroom. There was also a small storage room, and most part that was situated above the dojo was just a roof.

The back garden was wonderful, big enough but neat, a terrace to sit on in the summer, but also enough grass to play on. In our old home, we never had a garden, and we only discovered the joy of having one was with friends, separate from each other.

"It's beautiful" Mikey spoke, a smile on his face.

"Miwa what do you think?" Dad addresses his daughter specifically, and even she was confused. "The house is not situated in your school district, you will have to transfer schools"

"Where is it?" Miwa asks, and I frown slightly, looking at the address, because I knew this neighbourhood.

"It is in the district where the boys are currently attending school. So they will not have to switch schools" He spoke, and Miwa looks at us.

"Well I wouldn't care, my current school is full of stuck up people. And I'm sick of my dress code, you know this" Miwa spoke.

"But they're here for a reason, you know how distracting a collarbone can be" Raph says, voice dripping with sarcasm. I snicker.

"I agree with Raph, even your shoulders, how am I supposed to concentrate" I cry out dramatically, and Miwa snorts.

"My point exactly, it's full of crap" Miwa spoke, nodding silently at the stern look dad gave her at the use of the vulgar language.

"Well we have a decent dress code at our school, one that doesn't objectify women" Don speaks up, and Miwa smiled.

"And my friend Shinigami goes to that school as well, so I'm good" Miwa continues, and I immediately look at Mikey.

"You know Shini?" He asks, and Raph snickers.

"Shini is one of my best friends, so yes. Do you know her?" Miwa frowns, and Mikey nods.

"She's in a few of my classes, we've been to some parties together"

"Getting high together is more like it" I could hear Raph snicker under his breath, and Mikey rolls his eyes, shoving Raph away.

"Yea Shini is cool, though dad here doesn't approve of her drug use" Miwa chuckles, and dad shakes his head.

"You know I do not, but I respect you can make your own decisions" He says, turning to Mikey. "I am aware of your recent use of drugs and alcohol, and while I do not support it, I believe children should not hide this from their parents. So I would not forbid such things if consumed within reason."

Within reason, an obvious reference to Mikey's abuse of those two things. Mikey would get help for it of course, we would look for a therapist once we were settled in a new home. But it was clear that Dad would not accept Mikey abusing alcohol and drugs.

"So we can drink at parties?" Raph questions.

"I would rather you would not, but I know I cannot stop you from trying. So I would rather have you be open about it. You can always come to me after consuming alcohol, you will not be punished for it." Dad spoke. "You can drink some at home too, so you will not go behind my back, but I expect you four to be reasonable about it"

"So basically you're allowing us to drink alcohol so we won't hide it from you?" Don questions, and dad chuckles.

"A good friend of mine has lived in several Western European countries where they approach the subject of alcohol in the same manner. Children are allowed to drink at home from time to time so they will not go behind their parents' back, and they will not ban alcohol from being consumed. It is not uncommon for children to tell their parents about their drunk experiences"

"An open relationship dad often calls it, where we can say anything. When I got drunk and had to be picked up, dad did but didn't punish me for being drunk and underage. We talked about it, and I was honest with him and shit" Miwa explained, waving at dad at the language. "I never felt like I needed to hide anything from dad"

"Miwa is right, and I hope that I will give you four the same impression" Dad spoke, glancing at Miwa again. "However, we are getting off topic. I do not expect you to decide right away, and we will visit the house before deciding, but will you think about transferring schools?"

"I will dad, but you know most of my friends are outside school" Miwa smiles gently. "And if my friends from high school are really my friends, we'll stay in contact" She says, and dad nods.

"So you are all a fan of this house?" Dad asks.

"I think we all are" I grin, looking around me, but nobody protested.

"Then I will arrange a private viewing. The previous owners have already moved so they are willing to sell the house immediately if we are truly interested."

And we could start our new lives very very soon.


	7. Chapter 7

"It's so weird, this is our last time here" Mikey whispers softly, putting his comics into the box. I frown, leaning forwards slightly.

"I feel ya" I mutter, glancing around the room. So many afternoons, or nights, we've spent in this room, or in my room, or Don's or Leo's room. Yet, this would be the last time we would see it. Dad had already taken us to Ikea to shop for new furniture, so we didn't need to worry about leaving our current furniture behind.

Of course dad had taken furniture from the home where he and Miwa had lived, but for the most part, he didn't bother to go through the trouble. Money was no issue after all. He was already rich to begin with. Not to mention we would inherit all of Saki's belongings as compensation, which would be managed by dad.

He now owned this house, where we grew up with Saki, his two cars, and unlimited savings. So he had quickly decided, with our approval, to just leave our old furniture behind. Because that's what it was, old and second hand furniture.

"How many comics do you even have?" I snort, and Mikey chuckles.

"A lot, but this is the last of it" Mikey says with an amused voice, sighing before closing the box. Several boxes filled with Mikey's belongings were neatly stacked near the door. Clothes, photo's, comics and other random stuff he had collected over all those years, which was surprisingly few.

"That's it I guess" Mikey mutters, standing up and looking around the room. I follow his gaze. There were two trash bags sitting in the corner of the room, filled with stuff Mikey didn't want anymore that could be thrown away, and another one filled with clothes and stuff that would be given to less fortunate people.

The room looked oddly empty, abandoned and almost creepy. I shudder slightly, it wasn't like the image of the room didn't correlate to our feeling to it. For all of us this house didn't mean anything anymore, or at least, it didn't hold any personal value. This was the house where Mikey was emotionally abused by dad all his life.

Where Mikey got beaten till he was bleeding one time, but that one time was already too much. The house, and its rooms, could burn for all I care.

"You sure you want to leave?" I ask softly, watching my youngest brother with sharp eyes. Mikey sighs, walking to the window. I knew he'd understand why I'd ask him, but maybe he thought I wouldn't have noticed his behaviour earlier. We had all arrived at our house at the same time.

Leo, Don, me and Mike. And we all set out for the same task, clear out our own rooms before continuing with the rest. Dad and Miwa would clear up the living room, but they had no idea what could be thrown or given away, so we had to help eventually. Yet, when I was done, Mikey was still in his room.

I could hear Don and Leo already downstairs, boxes in the hallway and ready to be taken away. But Mikey hadn't, no boxes were visibly and I hadn't heard him either. When I went to check up on him, he was crying silently, staring out of the window.

"I-... I'm just conflicted I guess" Mikey mutters, laughing shakily. "Dad didn't always hate me I guess. He used to read stories to me when we were little. Here" Mikey explains, glancing at the window. I sigh, feeling my heart hammer painfully in my chest.

Of course.. Dad read stories to him in this room, this house. And while dad… or rather Saki, still hurt him, this was also the last place that would remind Mikey Saki used to love him.

"I understand ya feel this way little brother" I whisper, but Mikey shakes his head furiously.

"I don't want to stay here, and I know dad .. I know I shouldn't hold onto this memory of him. I just need a moment I guess" He mutters, and I blink a couple of times. Because that's exactly what I feared, that Mikey wouldn't actually want to leave, to preserve the memory of a loving dad.

That he would feel guilty about leaving or some shit like that.

I guess I was wrong about that.

"Remember when we threw my action figures down to hit Leo and Don?" Mikey chuckles softly, and despite the heavy situation, I can't help but bark out a laugh at the memory. Leo had been so confused when something hit his head when he and Don were playing on the streets at the back of our house.

"He thought he was going nuts" I snicker, and Mikey grins. His grin, however genuine, was weak.

"I'm gonna miss it here" Mikey admits honestly, chuckling to himself. "But I know this house wasn't perfect. It always seemed grim, so closed off. In the new house there's more light, and a garden" He continues, and I nod while I glanced at the tiny window in Mikey's room.. old room rather.

Even downstairs there wasn't much natural light because the windows were so small. Contrary to our new home. The whole wall in the living room that pointed towards the garden was made out of glass, letting in an immense amount of natural light. Even the kitchen alone had more windows than our current living room.

"How about we pack the attic?" I suddenly suggest, and Mikey whips his head around, staring at me with almost terrified eyes.

"But da- Saki's room is there" He stammers, and I chuckle slightly.

"And ya never wondered what it looked like, what he was hiding?" I challenge. Mikey seemed to be conflicted for a few moments, but I knew he wouldn't be able to resist. And within moment, a mischievous grin appeared on his face.

"Hell yea"

TMNT

"I'm surprised it isn't locked" Mikey says softly as I open the room. I snort.

"He knew ya wouldn't go snooping probably, us too" I tell him, but I was more focused on the room in front. It wasn't necessarily an exciting room, but we had never been here in our entire lives, dad always forbid us going into this room.

I glance back at Mikey for a moment, but he just urged me to open the door fully. I shake my head, opening the door completely so we could look inside.

There was a double bed in the middle of the room, head side to a wall that was slightly tilted at waist length. A double bed, obvious for mom and dad to share, at least before she died. I push down the feeling, looking to the rest of the room. The whole left side was closets, probably filled with clothes.

On the left side, against the wall that also held the door was another drawer, a TV plastered to the wall. There was a tiny window on the right, but the blinds were closed.

"There's nothing special about the room" Mikey mutters behind me, stepping in as well. "Why wouldn't dad want us here?"

"Honestly Mike, I don't think we should find any reason behind his actions at all" I respond. I watch as Mikey walks over to the window, opening the blinds without much hesitation to let in a limited amount of light. Immediately the room seemed less grim, less creepy, but that feeling didn't disappear completely.

I shake my head, walking over to the closet and sliding it open. "On second thought, I think I know why" I spoke, stepping aside to show Mikey. His mouth opened slightly, walking over to the closet.

"What the-" He mutters, brushing his fingers over the clothes, so obviously meant for a woman. "I recognise a few, I think these were mom's clothes she wore on pictures" He continues, and I frown. Without saying anything, I slide open the other part of the closet, revealing a wide collection of male clothes.

"I think yer right Mikey, dad must've never gotten rid of them" I mutter darkly. "Sick bastard didn't want us knowing"

I could hear Mikey sigh behind me, sitting down on the bed. "So he never got over mom's death, and didn't want us to see this. That's why he hated me" Mikey mutters, and I turn around.

"Don't think about it, don't give him a reason for hating ya." I retort, frowning. "He hated ya because he was a sick son of a bitch. And that's the only reason" I insist, glaring at him. Mikey doesn't react, a miserable look on his face.

"I mean" he starts softly, licking his lips. "I know I shouldn't blame myself, I know I can't be blamed for mom's death. But I still feel guilty" Mikey answers honestly. I sigh, pinching the bridge of my nose before sitting down next to him.

"Yer gonna be okay Mike, now we know what happened, we can help ya" I speak softly, and Mikey nods.

"I know Raph" Mikey smiled gently, reaching out my hand. I squeeze it softly, before he stands up. "Let's just get this over with, and join the rest downstairs" Mikey says, I glance at him as he walks out of the room, quickly coming back with a moving box.

"I don't care about the clothes, but I want to see if he had any photos or something" Mikey says, and I nod. Mikey unfolded the box, placing it on the ground. It was unlikely that we would need more than one box after all.

We spent the next 15 minutes in silence, searching through the drawers, sorting out papers and the closet. There were some photo albums, but they contained the same pictures that we already had downstairs as well, so nothing new. There were a few new photos, a few including our real dad with Saki.

"Hey Raph?" Mikey suddenly calls out, a hesitant tone in his voice. I frown slightly, turning around and walking over to Mikey. "I think there's a hole beneath the floor" He explains, thumbing his foot on the ground, it sounded hollow. I gesture to the floor, and Mikey drops to his knee.

His hands brushes along the floor, brushing the line of shoes away. He stops for a moment, before putting his hands on the floor and sliding it to the side. Without much force, the floor slides away, revealing a square piece of wood with an obvious opening. He looks up, a perplexed look on his face.

"Secret storage" He says, a slightly amused look on his face. There was, however, a trace of nervousness in his voice.

"Let's open it" I urge Mikey, and I kneel next to him as he obeys. His hand slowly reached out, gently lifting the piece of wood, revealing a square hole in the floor. I could feel Mikey's breath hitch, slowly reaching out for the book that was in the hole. His hands were shaking, standing up.

"It's a diary" He whispers, not looking at me but only at the diary. His legs were shaking slightly, and he walked out of the closet.

"Let's go sit down" I whisper gently, guiding him until he was sitting down on the bed. My hand touched his, and he looks at me with scared eyes.

And I knew what he was thinking, what were we going to find?

TMNT

"Dad?" I could hear Mikey's soft voice, I whip my head around. Both Raph and Mikey were standing there, in front of the stairs and facing us. Raph was holding a moving box, but it didn't seem like a lot of weight was in the box, he had no problem holding it. Mikey was holding something to his chest.

But both of my little brothers' eyes were filled with shock, disbelief. I glance at dad, equally as confused as Don and Miwa.

"Mom knew, she knew you were our father" Mikey continues softly, and I frown. Mikey seemed to understand my confusion, lifting the book from his chest. "We found her diary in her closet, and she-" Mikey stops, and I could feel myself moving before I even registered the sentence.

"Hey hey" I call out, reaching out and putting my hands on his cheeks. "Look at me otouto" I could feel his heartbeat racing beneath my hands, and he looks at me with teary eyes.

"Dad threatened her" Mikey whispers, and I could feel eyes turn to dad. "Dad.. Saki did, he threatened mom" I relax slightly, I knew Mikey was upset and confused right now, but the last thing we'd need was Mikey blaming dad, our real dad, and not Oroku Saki.

"Let's sit down first" I call out, gently guiding Mikey to the couch. I glance at Raph, but while obviously shook, it was less than Mikey. Which, in a messed up way, made sense. Mikey had suffered under Saki's care, Raph hadn't. Raph carefully made his way over to the couch, and I put a gentle arm around his shoulders as a quick hug.

He smiled sadly, returning the hug before sitting down on a separate chair.

"We read the diary, mom wrote that Saki threatened her" Mikey said, handing the diary over to me. "Saki said if mom didn't go with him to America, he would have Miwa and you killed" He continued, eyeing at dad.

I gasp slightly, mom was threatened? I glance at Miwa, who was staring at the ground in shock.

"She knew she was pregnant with you, but she was scared to tell Saki" Raph adds. Dad sighs, looking down in sorrow.

"Shen has never left me" He whispers, and I could see Raph nod with a grim expression. "She protected you, my daughter" He adds, glancing at Miwa.

"I-..." Miwa starts, a lost expression on her face. "I always thought mom left me, you were right" She whispers, glancing at our dad. I frown slightly, and dad looks at me, understanding dawning on him.

"I had always believed Shen to be good, I never doubted your mother" He spoke, glancing at Miwa before glancing at us. "We should give this to police, this could make Saki's sentence longer" He continued, suddenly strangely calm.

"And then what?" Don asks. Dad looks at Don with a slight smile.

"We continue with our lives" He says softly.


	8. Chapter 8

"It's good to have you back" April smiled, wrapping her arms around Don quickly. Don chuckles as well.

"It's good to be back honestly" He says, glancing at us. I laugh, waving at him to go. He grinned, allowing April to pull him away from us, probably to catch him up with everything that has been going down at school. We hadn't seen our friends much lately with everything that had happened.

It had all happened so quickly also. Saki's trial was still going, dad was meeting with Mikey's therapist today to see if it was the right one for our youngest brother. But the move just finished 2 days ago, and we were still getting used to our new home, especially dad and Miwa since they moved quite a distance.

But we had all agreed that going back to school was the best thing to do, even for Mikey.

I glance down at my youngest brother at the thought.

"Can't believe you two are siblings, fuck" Shini grins, and Miwa chuckles at her best friend's antics. "Does this mean you won't get high with me again?" She asks, and I'm ready to walk over to them, but Miwa already speaks up.

"Not anytime soon Shini, but nobody's stopping you" Miwa says, smiling at Mikey. Shini snickers, rolling her eyes.

"Got that right" She says with a stern voice, glancing at me and Raph for a moment.

"We should head to class soon" Mikey mentions, looking at Miwa, who looked around with a slightly confused expression on her face. It was her first day on this school after all. And while she was obviously glad to be wearing her own clothes at school for once, she did seem hesitant.

"Don't worry girl, we have the same classes this morning" Shini snickers, nudging Miwa.

"See you at lunch?" Miwa asks, glancing at me.

"Of course" I confirm, waving at Miwa as Shini drags her away. "We should head to class as well, bell's about to ring" I say, glancing at Mikey and Raph. All Mikey's classes were with at least one of us today, for which I glad. I wouldn't want to leave him alone right now, even if I knew he had enough friends.

While not the most popular guy, he has never been shy, and most students really liked Mikey, he was funny, helpful and selfless. And he had a great group of friends, and I trusted them with Mikey's safety any day, but I felt better knowing at least one of us was with him during the day.

Just to make sure he knew he could come to us if something was bothering him. His friends knew about what happened, he didn't like to keep it a secret, but they didn't understand it like Raph, Don and I did. They didn't grow up with Saki, and while we weren't emotionally abused, we experienced Saki's coldness.

We discovered him that day, we rescued Mikey.

TMNT

"We're home!" I announce as we walk inside, Miwa and Leo close behind me. Raph and Mikey still had one more class, but since school was close to home right now, we decided to just go home already.

"I am in the kitchen" Dad spoke, and I could immediately hear the tense tone in his voice, I frown, glancing at Leo and Miwa, but they too seemed to hear it. I turn left, walking over to the kitchen. Dad was standing in the kitchen area, glancing at the three of us before softly gesturing to the chairs.

I obeyed, sitting down without question, Leo and Miwa sitting down as well.

"What is it dad?" Miwa asks, but dad shakes his head.

"I assure you it is nothing negative my daughter" He says, turning to us. "The jury has decided on Saki's sentence today" He tells, and I could feel myself freezing just ever so slightly. I knew it was a possibility that happened today, but there was also a chance that they would need another hearing to decide.

And in all honestly, reuniting with my friends, and catching up with school had taken the majority of my attention today.

"Shouldn't we wait and tell Mikey and Raph?" Leo asks, but dad shakes his head.

"I wanted to discuss something with you about Michelangelo, am I correct to assume both Raphael and him have one remaining class?" He asks, and I nod.

"They won't be home in another 30 minutes at least" I tell him, and dad smiled, nodding.

"The jury gave Saki 42 years in prison for emotional and physical abuse of Michelangelo, neglect of behalf of the four of you, and manipulating and threatening Shen."

"So the diary was enough to prove that Saki really threatened mom?" Miwa asks, and dad nods with a sigh. It would be a sore subject for a while, that's for sure. Miwa had grown up for 16 years not knowing what to think of her mom. Dad knew nothing more than the fact that mom choose Saki over him.

And while Dad had always tried to convince Miwa that she was free to choose, Miwa had resented her mom for leaving her without a second though, even if she knew mom loved her. Now, however, it was revealed that her mom left to protect her.

"It was, my daughter" He spoke gently.

"What else did you want to talk about?" Miwa instead asks. I frown, looking at dad.

"I wanted to ask you two something" He continues, looking at Leo and me. "Do you know if Michelangelo is interested in arts?" He asks, and I could feel my frown deepen. Before I could question his question however, Dad pulls a piece of paper from his pocket, handing it to Leo and me.

Leo carefully took it from dad, showing it to me, and simultaneously looking at it himself.

It was a drawing of a forest, just black and white without any colours. It was beautiful, despite the lack of colours, there was so much debt in the drawing, and so much detail. I frown slightly, the drawing was beautifully drawn, and yet so dark and grim.

"Mikey drew this?" Leo whispers softly, and Dad nods slightly.

"I believe so, yes" He says. "If it is the case, your brother is very talented. Drawing could help him mentally also"

"I never really realised, I knew Mikey loved drawing but he never showed us" I mumble

"Maybe he was ashamed?" Leo asks softly, glancing at Miwa and dad, who were both looking at Leo with astonished looks. I knew what they were thinking though. The thought of Mikey being ashamed of something, our youngest brother being scared of our reactions to the drawings would've shocked me…

If it weren't for the fact that we knew Mikey. We knew how insecure he actually was, the insecurities about himself, about his value.

"Mikey isn't as confident as he looks." I explain, glancing at Leo. "I guess we now know why" I mutter after the sentence, and a dark look fills Leo's eyes. He knew what I was talking about without a doubt. Dad talking down on Mikey for so many years. He had the biggest heart of us all.

And that's also why Mikey took everything so hard. Dad telling him constantly that he wasn't worth anything, that he didn't contribute anything useful to the family was devastating for his confidence.

I glare at the ground, to nothing in particular. Saki was wrong, so wrong. It didn't matter in the first place, but Mikey contributed so much. Both Leo, Raph and I had the tendency to be too serious, to let ourselves get depressed. Mikey was the one to always cheer us up, he was the one to help us so unconditionally.

He was what made us laugh most of the time, kept us together as well. He was the glue of the family.

And what Saki didn't realise, was that Mikey was talented. Saki never cared to know about his talents probably, or deemed them not good enough. The drawing that was still in front of us already showed this, without taking any classes he could already draw like this.. that was impressive.

Raph was the athletic one, universities lining up to give him a scholarship. Leo was both smart and athletic. Not to brag, but not as smart as I was, and also not as athletic as Raph. He was still fairly above average, and what he lacked in knowledge and athletic ability, he made up for it with insight.

I was the brains, as Mikey had often described me.

But Mikey? Mikey was the creative one, always had been. The drawing only adds to this. And I would be damned if I allowed Saki to take away the confidence in his creative ability as well.

TMNT

"So nobody's telling me where we're going?" Mikey sighs, turning to Don with a hopeful look. I snicker, shaking my head.

"Nobody's telling ya just yet bonehead" I roll my eyes, nudging him with a grin plastered on my face.

"It's not much Mikey, but those two wanted to surprise you" Leo says, glancing at us from the mirror. He was, as the oldest, sitting in the front of the car next to dad. Mikey, Don and I were sitting in the back of the car, currently on our way to the 'surprise' we had for Mikey.

Miwa wasn't with us, she was working on catching up on schoolwork together with Shini.

"Don't be so pessimistic fearless" I snort, glancing at Mikey. Truth be told, Leo was right, it wasn't a really exciting surprise, but definitely, hopefully, one Mikey would appreciate. And most specifically, one that would help Mikey heal, make him recover a bit better after all the shit Saki did to him.

So the four of us keep our mouths shut, not telling Mikey where we were going. It didn't take long for dad to park the car, and Mikey glanced out of the window.

"No way!" Mikey grins, turning back to me. "Are you guys serious?" He asks, glancing back at the store again. DaVinci Artist Supply, a store where you could buy all the art supplies you could even think of. And a perfect place for Mikey to snoop around. I snicker, nudging Mikey, but he was too focused on the store.

"Told you it wasn't that exciting" Leo says, and Mikey turns around.

"You kidding?! This is amazing" Mikey cries out, turning to dad. "How did you know?" He asks, much softer and much more hesitant this time.

"I found your drawing, my son" Dad spoke. "I came to the conclusion that you would appreciate some real supplies to work with" He continues, and Don nods shyly. Mikey's smile just widens.

"I don't know what to say" Mikey mutters, and I snicker.

"Then don't, just go in there and pick stuff ya like" I tell him, nudging him slightly.

"Anything?" He asks, much more hesitant again.

"I will pay for anything you want to buy my son, if it is within reason. It is the least I can give you for letting you suffer under Saki's watch" Mikey's smile falters ever so slightly, and he reaches forwards, putting a hand on dad's shoulder. The latter smiled, putting his hand on top of Mikey's.

A silent conversation seemed to be going on between Mikey and dad, but it was all so clear what Mikey wanted to say.

I don't blame you, it wasn't your fault.

TMNT

One month later.

"Mikey?" I found myself asking, simultaneously knocking on the door. From the other side of the door, I could hear my only little brother hum slightly, and I carefully open the door. I glance around the room, eyes falling on Mikey's form after a few seconds.

My youngest brother was sitting on the ground, sitting cross legged and facing the easel in front of him. He looked calm, peaceful as his eyes were trained on the canvas that was attached to the easel. I smile gently, just like dad had predicted, Mikey loved everything that had something to do with art.

He loved drawing, he loved painting, and he loved spending hours writing whatever poems or stories he came up with.

"What's up?" Mikey asks, not taking his eyes off the canvas. It was turned away from me, so I couldn't see what was on it. Which wasn't uncommon, while we knew Mikey loved being creative, it was also evident that he didn't like sharing those creations with us. He was still insecure about them.

"Dad asked me to get you, dinner's almost done" I tell him, glancing at the canvas. Mikey sighs, putting down his brush for a moment. "Almost done?" I snicker slightly, and Mikey glances at me.

There was a strange kind of calm aura around him. He was always at ease painting, or losing himself in his head. It helped him heal over the last month, helped him come to terms with the insecurities Saki forced upon him. He was still bubbly as ever, that wasn't something he pretended, that was just how Mikey was.

But Mikey also needed some peace and quiet, a time for himself.

"Almost" Mikey nods, not really looking at me. He puts the brush in the water next to him to avoid it drying out. He takes a deep sigh, glancing at the panting. "You can look if you want" He adds, almost hesitantly.

"You sure?" I ask, and he nods again.

"I want you to see it" He says, glancing at me. I comply, walking over to him, and turning around to look at the drawing. My breath hitches slightly at the painting, it was beautiful. Unlike his earlier drawings, the painting was full of warm and colourful lights. He had drawn a canal of some sorts, surrounded by scenery.

I didn't even have the right words to describe it other than beautiful.

"It's beautiful Mikey" I whisper, putting a hand on his shoulder. Mikey grins slightly, gazing at the drawing again.

"Thanks D" He mutters. I grin, leaning down and wrapping an arm around him.

"Don't doubt yourself little bro" I whisper in his ear, and Mikey chuckles, pushing me away.

"I know, I know" He waves off, climbing to his feet.

"Not like I don't appreciate it, but why are you showing it now?" I ask, almost hesitantly. I didn't want Mikey to take this the wrong way. But I was curious why he was showing me. Of course he had shown us some doodles, or some small drawings, but art he was serious and passionate about weren't shown.

Mikey looks at the window at the question, and for a second I'm worried I did say something wrong.. until I saw the tiniest smile on Mikey's face.

"I talked about it with Willow, about the drawings" He stops for a moment, glancing at me. Willow was his therapist, someone he had been talking with for about a month now. "We talked about me not showing the drawings.. and she encouraged me to show them"

"But you're still afraid?" I ask, and he nods.

"I mean it's stupid really.. I'm just afraid of your reactions, da- Saki never appreciated art. Thought it was useless" He takes a deep breath. "I know you don't feel the same, or.. but I guess I'm still afraid"

"That's totally normal Mikey" I say, and Mikey chuckles.

"That's what Willow said as well" He says, an amused smile on his face. "But you're right Don.. that's why I'm showing you, to get over it"

"But you don't have to show us, or me, if you don't want to" I urge, but Mikey frowns before shaking his head.

"That's where you're wrong dude. I always wanted to show you everything. I want to show you I'm good at something.. but I'm afraid you won't like it, or won't think it's something special" He explains, taking another breath. "I showed Saki when we were younger, and he told me the drawing wasn't good, and that I should focus on school instead"

"I never knew" I whisper, but Mikey shakes his head.

"We already established that dude" He says, but I just frown. It wasn't a secret that Mikey was still insecure about his own self worth because of Saki beating him down all those years. But it was no secret that we all felt guilty about not noticing sooner. Leo, Raph and I all felt guilty about not noticing that Saki was abusing Mikey.

Emotional abuse mostly, but it was still too much. And Mikey still bore vague scars on his back for the one time dad truly hurt Mikey.

"Well Willow was right Mikey, the painting is beautiful, you should be proud" I tell him, and I can practically see his eyes light up with excitement. This was something he needed to hear, something he loved to hear.

And if it helped Mikey heal, I would repeat it as many times as I had to.

TMNT

"I'm proud of ya little brother" Raph grinned, forcing Mikey into his side and ruffling his hair. Mikey laughed, trying to twist out of Raph's grip.

"Thanks Raphie" Mikey snickered, glancing around before his eyes landed on us.

"It's really beautiful otouto" I add, smiling as well. Mikey's face fell slightly, before another smile spread across his face. He walks over to me, and I wrap an arm around him as well. Just like Raph had done, but not as rough.

"Thanks Leo" He whispers, and I chuckle.

"It is indeed truly magnificent my son" Dad spoke, and Don nodded along as well. Mikey smiled, glancing at the painting that hung on the wall in front of him. Unlike his previous paintings, this one was bright, colours all over the painting that somehow made sense. Much like Mikey's mind himself.

We were currently at a museum exposing numerous high school paintings. Mikey's paintings was one of the few that had been picked to be shown. And it was an understatement to say we were all proud of him, even if Mikey didn't believe in his own talents just yet.

I sigh slightly, and I lower my arm around Mikey's shoulder but neither of us move away. I glance to the right, smiling again. It was weird to think how far Mikey had come in the last 4 months. He had come so far in those months, especially after the trial of Saki was over, and we got used to our new life again.

"Thanks dad" Mikey spoke softly, grinning before turning around to us again. Dad.

It was still so weird to actually realise that this was our life right now, that our biological dad was actually our dad. I shake my head slightly, it was our life right now, and I was grateful for it. It was silent for a moment, and I could see Mikey's smile falter.

"Turn that frown upside down little bro" Miwa grinned, nudging Mikey's side. The latter snickers, grabbing his head, and pretending to snap it. Turning his frown upside down.

"What has my life come to" Don exclaims, turning to me. I shake my head with an amused grin.

"Just roll with it Don" I say, slinging an arm around him as well. Dad was, however, looking at us with a confused look. "Don't ask" I snicker, and that seemed to be enough for dad. This wasn't the first time Miwa and Mikey had thrown around references like that. Over these 4 months they had really bonded, they had the exact same humour.

Dad first learned that the hard way when he asked who ate his sandwich.

"How about we go out for dinner tonight instead?" Dad asks softly, looking at us. "I do not particularly feel like cooking, and this accomplishment is worth a proper celebration" Dad suggest, glancing towards the painting again with a smile of pride on his face.

"Thanks dad" Mikey whispers with a bright smile, hugging dad, who in turn returned the hug as well. He glances at us, motioning us to join in. I shake my head, willingly joining the hug. We were family right now. And even if Mikey wasn't completely healed, and would probably never be.

He was okay, we were all okay. Dad loved us, Miwa did as well. Raph and Don still had their scholarships waiting for them, but we didn't need them anymore. Dad had enough money to send us anywhere in the world. I smile slightly, glancing at Mikey. I wouldn't pretend I wasn't a tiny bit jealous.

But Mikey had gotten numerous offers as well, universities asking Mikey to join them. All art related. Neither of us had decided yet on where to go, but for now that didn't matter. We were still together, free from Saki. And we still had years to decide where we'd go.

For now, all that mattered was that Mikey was getting better, and we were together.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So because we never actually got to see Miwa's personality in the series, because Karai was heavily influenced by Shredder and all, I was pretty much free in creating her personality. And I just saw Black Panther when I got to sort of creating Miwa. And I just fell in love with Shuri. So I gave her her personality. And of course with her personality, the meeemess.
> 
> My friends and I used to do this so often back in high school. Like blurt out one of the asdf movies skits, and finish it without hesitation. Everyone was always so confused xD Especially my teacher when I blurted out "I can dream Harold!" Out loud.. his name was also Harold.
> 
> Sooooo... This is officially the end of the story. So I hope you guys liked it! Let me know what you thought *Hint*
> 
> *Hugs for everyone* See ya!


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